Russia and its key ally Belarus began a long-planned joint military exercise involving thousands of troops on Friday, putting Nato on edge days after Poland accused Moscow of firing attack drones through its airspace.
The exercises, dubbed Zapad 2025 (or West 2025), will last until Tuesday and are intended to showcase close defence ties between the two countries, as well as Russia's military might as it fights its three-and-a-half-year-old war in neighbouring Ukraine.
The Russian defence ministry posted a video showing heavy military equipment – including armoured vehicles, helicopters and navy ships – taking part in the drills.
The manoeuvres follow Wednesday's incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace that fuelled long-standing fears that the hostilities in Ukraine could trigger a wider conflict.
The Russian military said it wasn’t targeting Poland, and Belarus suggested drones veered off course, but European leaders described it as a deliberate provocation, forcing Nato allies to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday night that the incursion could have happened “by mistake”, a suggestion Poland dismissed. "We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn't. And we know it," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.
The EU on Friday summoned the envoys of Russia and Belarus in Brussels to protest over the "intentional and dangerous" drone intrusion.
"We conveyed in no uncertain terms that this reckless act signals a serious escalation by Russia and poses a direct threat to the security of EU citizens," an EU official said.
EU countries agreed to prolong Ukraine-related sanctions for another six months on more than 2,500 Russian individuals and entities, including President Vladimir Putin, diplomats said.
Nato's eastern flank members that border Belarus – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – are on high alert over the Zapad drills, which Belarus says will be held near Borisov, a town east of the capital Minsk.
All three countries ramped up security ahead of the exercises, with Poland ordering the closure of its border with Belarus for their duration.
"The joint strategic manoeuvres of the Russian and Belarusian armies ... have started," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.
Mr Tusk warned of "critical days" for his country, but Moscow has downplayed the concerns.
"These are planned exercises, they are not aimed against anyone," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, rejecting Poland's claim that the drills were an "aggressive" show of force.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also issued a warning over Moscow's intentions.
"The meaning of such actions by Russia is definitely not defensive and is directed precisely against not only Ukraine," he said.
Usually held every four years, the 2025 Zapad exercise is the first during the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow sent around 200,000 troops to similar drills in 2021, just months before it launched its Ukraine offensive.
But this year's Zapad is expected to be much smaller, since hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are deployed in Ukraine.
According to Mr Tusk, the exercises are designed to simulate the occupation of the Suwalki corridor, a geographical gap that stretches along the border between Poland and Lithuania, flanked by Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The corridor is considered a vulnerability for Nato and could potentially be the first target of any Russian attack.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed that fear as "utter nonsense".
Russia's stationing of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has given the drills a new dimension.
Minsk said in August the exercises would involve Russia's new experimental nuclear-capable missile, dubbed Oreshnik, as well as nuclear strike training.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper arrived in Kyiv on Friday morning for the first overseas visit in her new role. She was met by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Britain’s Prince Harry also arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit in support of wounded service members.
