Russia and Belarus on September 12 began Zapad 2025, their first joint military exercise in four years, with maneuvers taking place across both countries.
According to the Kremlin, the drills, running from September 12 to 16, include repelling enemy airstrikes and combat operations, as well as practice with the new Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
The Oreshnik is a newly developed Russian weapon that flies over air defense systems before breaking into 36 smaller submunitions. It can be equipped with a nuclear warhead, making it a tactical nuclear weapon, and is estimated to have a range of up to 5,500 kilometers.
Poland, which borders Belarus, has responded by deploying an additional 40,000 troops to its frontier.
Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said, “Zapad is an offensive exercise. Poland has been preparing for months, and over 30,000 Polish and NATO troops will conduct drills to ensure an appropriate response.”
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned that the exercises could be a precursor to conflict, noting, “Russia held military drills before invading Georgia and before its invasion of Ukraine.”
Poland has already closed its border with Belarus and restricted air traffic. Lithuania and Latvia have also partially closed their airspace.
In the Zapad exercise held in 2017, the adversary was depicted as three fictional states — Vesbaria, Lubenia, and Baysinoria — widely understood to represent the three Baltic nations. In the 2021 drills, the scenario envisioned unnamed ‘Western countries’ sparking an internal uprising in Belarus before launching an invasion.
Russia countered that the exercise was a routine joint drill between the two countries and argued that the West was overreacting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sept. 11, “This is a regular exercise and not directed at anyone. Russia will continue to pursue policies that are no secret to anyone, and no measures are aimed at third countries.”
Military analyst Alexander Khramchikhin told AFP the significance of the drills was overstated. “This is just a show with no special meaning. Russia holds similar exercises across the country every year around this time,” he said.
