This year’s Zapad drills feature the testing of the new Oreshnik missile, nuclear decision-making scenarios, and evidence of Russian drones using Polish and Lithuanian SIM cards to probe NATO’s defenses.
From: Euromaiden Press BY MARIANNA PRYSIAZHNIUK
Russia and Belarus have begun their joint military drills Zapad-2025, simulating missile attacks and nuclear scenarios. Analysts warn the exercises serve as both a rehearsal for war and a signal to NATO, echoing Soviet-era shows of force.
Missile launches and nuclear decision-making
Zapad-2025 started on 12 September and is scheduled to last until 16 September on Belarusian and Russian territory. One of the declared goals is to conduct missile launches, including tests of the Oreshniksystem— a missile that Putin claims to be “unstoppable.”
The official theme is framed as the “application of groupings of troops in the interests of ensuring the military security of the Union State,” — Putin’s long-stalled project to absorb Belarus into a single country.
But beyond the formal language, observers stress that the drills are designed to project that Russia remains powerful despite more than three years of heavy losses in Ukraine, estimated at over 1 million casualties.
Voice of Ukraine 