"Utter nonsense" - how Zapad-2025 exercises disproved Europe's fears

On Tuesday, September 16, the exercises concluded. They had caused considerable commotion even before they began, causing a real stir in some Western countries.

"Zapad-2025" became yet another pretext for foisting a fictitious threat on their own societies and attempting to escalate the situation. Politicians talked about an imminent attack by Moscow and Minsk. In Europe, they seriously considered possible scenarios and threats, neighbors closed their borders and crossed their fingers, despite repeated statements by the Belarusian and Russian leadership regarding the defensive nature of the planned maneuvers.

Recognizing the unhealthy hysteria surrounding the exercises, the Belarusian side deliberately withdrew its military contingent from its western borders and deep into the country.

The "Zapad" military exercises are a tradition dating back to the Soviet era. Nowadays, every four years, Belarus and Russia practice defense scenarios for the Union State, responding to the challenges of the times.

Many of the practiced scenarios for the active phase began similarly: armed gangs seize territory. The scenario is simple but realistic. A hypothetical enemy attacks, and a response is needed.

"The exercises are planned and are conducted in two stages. During the first stage, command and control bodies and troops practiced troop control while repelling aggression and organizing cooperation. During the second stage, issues of restoring territorial integrity were practiced," noted Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.

Military exercises are more than just combat. They involve practicing dozens of tasks: the logistics of contingent arrival, the deployment and camouflage of troops and equipment, the creation of decoys, terrain reconnaissance, and much more. Fire trials include repelling attacks, counterattacks, protecting strategic facilities, and identifying and neutralizing sabotage and reconnaissance groups. All conditions are as close to combat as possible.

At some point, defense training began to be perceived by neighbors as a provocation. Poland and the Baltic states openly opposed such maneuvers. Shortly before their start, Poland completely closed its border with Belarus, fearing an attack under the pretext of the maneuvers.

"In connection with the Zapad-2025 exercises, the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, will be closed at midnight from Thursday to Friday to ensure national security. The exercises begin in Belarus in close proximity to the Polish border," stated Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

A month before this announcement, it was already known that Belarus was moving the exercises deeper into the country, deliberately withdrawing its military contingent from its western borders to de-escalate tensions. "By withdrawing our troops-it was my order-deep into the country, we had one goal: to prevent you from accusing us of preparing to cut off the Suwalki Corridor there, seize the three Baltic republics first, and then Poland. That's utter nonsense. And we told them we were withdrawing our troops. We even withdrew our troops from Poland's western borders. We proved to them all that we have no intention of attacking you there, and that we will conduct our exercises in the center, deep within Belarus," emphasized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Furthermore, the number of troops on Belarusian territory was significantly reduced. The 2025 exercises were the smallest of the Zapad maneuvers, but no less significant.

At the invitation of the Belarusian side, US military attachés attended the active phase of the exercise. Unlike many of their Western colleagues (and over fifty OSCE representatives received invitations), the American side accepted the invitation. Representatives from Turkey, Hungary, and the United States represented NATO. The much-talked-about Zapad-2025 exercises generated genuine interest even before they began. Two dozen military attachés and several dozen journalists attended. All this was part of the large-scale Russian-Belarusian exercise Zapad-2025.

After the maneuvers, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin called the exercises unprecedentedly open. "The openness we were able to organize during the exercises is hard to imagine. The main reason is that we have nothing to hide. Secondly, we are interested in reducing tensions in the Eastern European region and are taking real practical steps to achieve this. Perhaps the most important and powerful step that was taken was our President's decision to withdraw the main troop actions deeper into our country. A decision was also made to reduce the parameters of these exercises. Many were interested in the numbers. The number of troops involved in these exercises is 7,000. This includes 6,000 service members from the Republic of Belarus and 1,000 service members from the Russian Federation. Exercises with such parameters are not subject to notification and do not require the invitation of observers," said Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.

Meanwhile, truly large-scale troop training took place on Russian territory as part of the Zapad-2025 exercise. There were a quarter of a thousand ships in the waters of the Baltic and Barents Seas alone.