At the Russian-Belarusian exercises "Zapad-2025", the dictators of the Russian Federation and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenka, are practicing war strategies with the West. This opinion was expressed by military observer of the German publication BILD Julian Röpcke, reports UNN.
Details
According to him, the relatively small number of soldiers participating in the exercises - only 18,200, of which 5,500 are Russians - should not mislead about the danger of the maneuvers - Putin and Lukashenka are practicing three war strategies with the West.
Use of nuclear weapons and medium-range missiles
A key element of the exercises is the imitation of the use of nuclear weapons and Oreshnik missiles, the deployment of which in Belarus is planned by the end of this year. The obvious goal of these maneuvers is to intimidate Belarus's neighbors.
Attack on the Suwalki Corridor
Officially, in these exercises, Russia and Belarus are practicing "conducting defensive battles, defeating an enemy who has broken through defensive lines, and creating conditions for restoring the territorial integrity of the state." On the first day of the maneuvers, Russian media reported where exactly the "defensive operation" is supposed to take place: in the Kaliningrad region, which NATO allegedly wants to seize.
To "protect" Kaliningrad, the Russian army must advance from Belarus and lay the so-called Suwalki Corridor - a section of territory in Poland and Lithuania about 60 km wide, which will connect Belarus and Kaliningrad. Thus, Russia pretends that the enclave needs defense in order to rehearse an attack on NATO in this region
Repressions
"Zapad-2025" also provides for "the fight against illegal armed groups, as well as sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the enemy." Russian state media left no doubt as to who they were talking about - "agents of Poland" and "employees of Ukrainian intelligence."
"In fact, in Belarus, 'saboteurs' are mostly not enemy agents at all, but critics of the regime, who are groundlessly accused of spying for Poland or Ukraine, and then imprisoned," Röpcke summarizes.
Recall
On September 12, Russia and Belarus began joint strategic military exercises "Zapad-2025". The training "combat operations" are taking place amid escalating relations with NATO after Russian drones invaded Polish airspace.