Poland completely closes border with Belarus ahead of "Zapad-2025" exercises
Kyiv • UNN
Poland will close its border with Belarus, including railway crossings, due to aggressive Russian-Belarusian exercises "Zapad-2025". This decision was made for national security reasons, amid growing tensions and hybrid warfare.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that on the night from Thursday to Friday, the country will close its border with Belarus, including railway crossings. The decision was made for national security reasons ahead of the Russian-Belarusian "West-2025" exercises, UNN reports with reference to Polsat News.
Aggressive Russian-Belarusian "West" exercises will begin on Friday, and on the night from Thursday to Friday, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings
He added that Poland would react to these actions and mentioned the arrest by the Belarusian KGB of an alleged Polish spy, who turned out to be a monk. According to the prime minister, such actions are an "aggressive provocation."
According to the head of government, all ministries affected by this decision have been instructed to submit detailed reports on the situation at the border.
"West-2025" exercises
Moscow and Minsk reported that 13,000 servicemen would participate in the "West-2025" exercises, scheduled for September 12-16. Lithuanian intelligence services indicate that the actual number of troops involved may be higher. At the same time, Lithuanian officials speak of up to 30,000 Belarusian and Russian servicemen.
Paweł Zalewski, Deputy Head of the Polish Ministry of National Defense, noted at the end of August that the Polish side expects the exercises to be accompanied by an intensification of nervous, informational, and hybrid warfare.
Is the Suwałki Gap under threat?
Former British military intelligence officer Philip Ingram warned that Russia might try to seize the Suwałki Gap, which is considered one of NATO's most vulnerable points - it is a sparsely populated 100-kilometer area of forested plains. It connects Poland and Lithuania and borders Belarus and the Russian exclave of Königsberg. This corridor is a key land route for the Baltic countries to the rest of the alliance.
"We are seeing an increase in Russian military presence in Königsberg and Belarus, we are seeing sudden military exercises and unusual troop movements," he commented to The Sun.
"We must be ready for every step," added Janusz Sejmej, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.
"Hopefully, this is the worst-case scenario that won't happen," he concluded.
Earlier, UNN wrote that the special services of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania exposed a Belarusian spy network in Europe. Among those exposed was a former deputy head of Moldovan intelligence, who passed secret information to the Belarusian KGB.