Russia and Belarus will conduct large-scale joint military drills in mid-September, but the exercises will be held further from NATO’s eastern flank after security warnings from Poland and the Baltic states.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that the manoeuvres, scheduled for September 12–16, had been relocated from the country’s western frontier to a different site. He dismissed as “complete nonsense” suggestions the drills could be used to prepare an attack on Poland or its Baltic neighbours.
Minsk’s Defence Ministry said the training will test the readiness of the two allied militaries and bolster the defence of the so-called Union State—a political and economic partnership that binds Belarus and Russia.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has previously warned that Moscow could use military exercises in Belarus as cover for aggressive moves.
Relations between Belarus and its western neighbours have been tense since 2022, when Russian forces used Belarusian territory to launch an assault on Kyiv.
