Bolisovsky Military Training Area, Belarus
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As US NATO allies in Europe feel pressure from Moscow, Russian drones that enter Polish airspace have already fallen into the famous atmosphere.
The exercise, called ZAPAD-2025, is being held at training grounds in Russia and Belarus.
Representatives of US military officers and two other NATO members, Turkey and Hungary representatives, observed the training, joined by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus Beck Yevkurov.
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Brian Schoep was one of two US officers who saw him meet with Belarusian military officials in a video shared by Minsk. In the video, we could hear Russian-language Belarusian officials thanking the invitation.
US President Donald Trump, who first responded to the Russian drone’s invasion into Poland, said, “What about Russia violating Polish airspace with drones?” Last week they proposed that they might have been a mistake.
In another indication that unfolds relations between Minsk and Washington, Belarus released 52 political prisoners after Trump administration official John Kohl met with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, delivering Cufflinks letters and gifts featuring images of the White House from Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
In response to the release of the prisoners, Trump administration officials said the US would ease sanctions against Belarusian state airline Bellavia.
A few days after dozens of Russian drones were seeped into Polish airspace and NATO jets were scrambled and shot down, Romania said another drone had crossed the border over the weekend.
While US European allies are seeking a stronger response to drone invasions from Washington, Trump appears reluctant to stand up to the Kremlin even more. In an interview with the fox on Friday, Trump said his patience with Putin is “somehow exhausted and runs out quickly.”
When the drill began at a large complex in northern Minsk, Belarus’ defense ministry claimed that NATO was in panic in the face of Russia and Belarus’ firepower.
“This is a big mistake from NATO,” Valery Revenko, a senior general at the Belarusian general, told CNN at the training grounds, pointing to the fact that Poland itself had stationed a large number of troops near the border with Belarus during the drill.
“Do you think there’s more people? Maybe there. Why are you afraid of 40,000 (reported Polish soldiers deployed in the area) 6,800 (Russian and Belarusian forces)? This is a good question.”
The Belarusians loaded us onto a bus and took us deep into the Bolisovsky training facility. The drill began with a massive bang when several Russian fighter jets streaked at low levels and dropped bombs on mock targets. The two troops then blasted a training area known as “Polygons”, ending with the final, massive attack.
Moscow uses these exercises to showcase modernized nuclear capabilities. While Russians claim that there are far fewer troops of less than 13,000 people participating in this year’s drills than in the past, what European leaders are worried about is the type of weapons being used. The Russians have been equipping Belarus with tactical nuclear weapons for several months and recently announced that they have placed their powerful new Oleshnik medium-range ballistic missiles there. This comes after Russia said it had placed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus late last year.
The Russian warships have been shown to launch Zircon Hi-sonic missiles in the Barents Sea in northern Russia, but Moscow jets fly missions in western Russia, carrying ballistic missiles fired by Kinzhar Airrank, which the Russians already use in combat with Ukraine.
“We were able to systematically plan the issue of using more powerful weapons of destruction in this exercise,” Belarus’ Defense Minister Viktor Krenin exhibits introducing changes in Russian military tactics that have adapted to the reality of Ukraine’s conflict. Apart from heavy tanks and artillery fire salvos, leading to large explosions and intense smoke in the training area, infantry units were charged forward on foot under the cover of motorcycles, quad bikes or drones.
“Europeans are hampering progress. They refuse to acknowledge the underlying origins of this crisis, thereby blocking the way to address these very causes. Still, Russia is open and ready for dialogue.”
And while Russia says it remains ready for dialogue, it also shows it has the devastating ability to keep fighting for a long time.
Once the training was over, dozens of Russian tanks and armored vehicles emerged from the dugout, flying all Russian flags and equipped with cages and nets around the turret for all drone attacks. The Russians call it “modern combat tactics.”
