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On Thursday Poland deployed around 40,000 soldiers to its border with Belarus as Minsk and Moscow readied the Zapad 2025 (West 2025) military drills, which began Friday.
“The drills, known as Zapad 2025 (West 2025) will begin in Belarus on Friday, September 12th, and are due to run until September 16th,” The European Conservative said. “They will include practising the use of nuclear-capable missiles and repelling an attack, including through airstrikes and sabotage.”
“Poland has been preparing for the Zapad 2025 maneuvers for many months,” Cezary Tomczyk, a deputy defense minister, told broadcaster Polsat News.
The defense minister said the Russian drill was of an offensive, not defensive nature.
“The Polish Army has conducted exercises in which over 30,000 Polish soldiers, as well as soldiers of the [NATO] alliance, took part in order to adequately respond,” he said. “Let’s remember that Zapad 2025 is an offensive exercise.”
Ukraine’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky had previously claimed that the drill could be a cover for an invasion.
“Look at Belarus: Russia is preparing something there this summer, using military drills as cover,” the Dictator told international leaders gathered in Warsaw back in April. “This is usually how they start their new attacks. But where will it go [this time]? I don’t know. Ukraine? Lithuania? Poland? God forbid. But we all have to be ready. All our institutions are open to cooperation.”
Friday’s drill comes after a false flag drone “attack” on Poland Wednesday which raised the tensions of the ongoing Ukraine war conflict.
President Donald Trump downplayed Poland’s accusation that Russian drones intentionally violated its airspace, saying this “could have been a mistake… But regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation. But hopefully it’s going to come to an end.”
