Russia-Larges Massive Military Exercises Amid 'attack' Tensions By Drones To Poland

Russia-Belarus/Bulle Ramil Nasibulin/BELTA/TASS military exercises

JAKARTA - Russia and Belarus began a massive joint military exercise near the NATO border. The exercise was held amid rising tensions with the Western alliance, two days after Poland shot down a Russian drone crossing its airspace.

The "Zapad-2025" exercise, a show of force by Russia and its close ally, Belarus, took place at training sites in the two countries, including near the Polish border.

The attack was scheduled long before the drone incident, which marks the first time NATO members have opened fire on Russian targets that entered during the 3.5-year war.

Reported by Reuters on Friday, September 12, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in the first phase of the exercise, troops would conduct simulations to fend off attacks against Russia and Belarus, whose alliance is known as the Unitary State.

The second phase will focus on "recovering the territorial integrity of the Unitary State and enemy destruction, including the participation of coalition forces from friendly countries", the ministry said.

Belarus borders three NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia to its west, and Ukraine to its south.

The Kremlin said on Friday, September 12, Europe's concerns about the drills were an emotional response based on hostilities towards Russia.

The Kremlin declined to comment on this week's drone incident, which West sees as a warning to NATO and a test for its response.

Western countries called the drone incident a deliberate provocation by Russia, which Moscow denies. The Russian Defense Ministry said its drone had carried out an attack in western Ukraine at the time, but had no plans to strike any targets in Poland.

US President Donald Trump said the Russian drone strike could have been a mistake.

"I'm not happy with anything related to this whole situation, but hopefully it will end," he told reporters on Thursday.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has maneuvered the upcoming "Zapad" as "very aggressive" and announced Poland would close its border with Belarus in the middle of the night on Thursday.

Poland's Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said Poland was preparing for months and was holding its own training, codenamed "Iron Defender".

"There are about 30,000 troops in Iron Defender training and about 5,000 on the border" with Belarus, Tomczyk said in response to a Reuters question.

Lithuania also said it would protect its borders because of the military exercises.

Belarus's Chief of General Staff, Major General Pavel Muraveiko, said all exercises would be held at a "significant distance" from the border with NATO and Ukrainian member states.

He said the drills would include the use of drones, electronic warfare, and the use of artificial intelligence to support decision-making.

The last Zapad exercise took place in September 2021, five months before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was partially launched from Belarus.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and supported him during the war, even without deploying his own troops to fight.

Since the start of the war, Belarus has allowed Russia to place a tactical nuclear missile in its territory and is preparing to host a new Moscow-owned Orestnik hypersonic missile.

Lukashenko simultaneously seeks to improve relations with the United States after years of being subject to US and European Union sanctions.

On Thursday, he released 52 detainees at the request of US President Donald Trump and said he supported Trump in his bid to resolve a series of international conflicts.