РУССКИЙ
10:30 18.09.2025 •
Russia and its main ally Belarus are conducting massive military drills right on the NATO alliance’s doorstep, CNN reports.
The exercises, called Zapad-2025, are taking place at training grounds in Russia and Belarus, which both border Ukraine, as well as in the waters of the Baltic and Barents Seas.
A delegation of US military officers, as well as representatives of two other NATO members, Turkey and Hungary, observed the drills, joined by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.
Air Force Lt. Col. Bryan Shoupe was one of two US officers who were seen meeting with Belarusian military officials in video shared by Minsk. In the video Shoupe could be heard thanking the Belarusian officials in Russian for the invitation.
As the drills began at a massive compound north of Minsk, Belarusian Defense Ministry claimed that NATO was panicking in the face of Russian and Belarusian firepower.
“It’s a big mistake from NATO,” Valery Revenko, a senior Belarusian general, told CNN on the training ground, pointing to the fact that Poland itself has stationed a large number of troops near the border with Belarus for the duration of the drills.
“Where do you think there is more personnel? Probably over there. Why are 40,000 (the reported number of Polish soldiers deployed to the region) afraid of 6,800 (Russian and Belarusian troops)? This is a good question.”
Moscow has used these exercises to showcase its modernized nuclear capabilities. While the Russians claim fewer than 13,000 troops are taking part in this year’s drills – much fewer than in the past – it’s the types of weapons used that has European leaders worried. For months the Russians have been outfitting Belarus with tactical nuclear weapons, recently announcing they’d placed their powerful new Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles there. This comes after Russia said it had placed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus late last year.
Russian warships were shown firing Zircon hypersonic missiles in the Barents Sea to the north of Russia, while Moscow’s jets flew missions over North Western Russia and Belarus carrying Khinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, which the Russians have already used in combat against Ukraine.
“We managed to systematically plan the issues of using weapons of more powerful destruction in this exercise,” Belarus’s defense minister Viktor Khrenin said of the firepower on display, which also showcased Russia’s changing military tactics as it adapted to the realities of the conflict in Ukraine. Aside from heavy tanks and artillery firing salvos leading to big explosions and heavy smoke on the training area, infantry units also charged forward on motorcycles, quad bikes or on foot under the cover of drones.
“The Europeans are obstructing progress. They refuse to acknowledge the fundamental origins of this crisis, thereby blocking any path to addressing these very causes. Nonetheless, Russia remains open and prepared for dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said again on Monday.
And while Russia says it remains prepared for dialogue it also showed it has a devastating capability to keep fighting for a long time.
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