Russia and Belarus begin joint military exercises under the uneasy gaze of NATO
The maneuvers, called "Zapad," take place every four years and will last until Tuesday. This year’s exercises coincide with the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine, where bombardments in the country’s major cities have intensified.
Military exercises
Russia and key ally Belarus began joint military exercises Friday under the uneasy gaze of NATO, after Poland accused Moscow of aggravating tensions with the intrusion of drones into its airspace.
The maneuvers, called "Zapad," take place every four years and will run through Tuesday.This year's maneuvers coincide with the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine, where they stepped up shelling in the country's major cities.
Russia, which launched a military offensive in the neighboring country in February 2022, announced it shot down 221 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the biggest attacks by Kiev since the start of the conflict.
"Joint strategic maneuvers of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces have begun," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement released Friday.
The exercises are taking place near Borisov, east of the Belarusian capital Minsk, Belarusian officials said. The Russian military also indicated that some "practical actions" will take place in Russia, in the Barents Sea and in the Baltic Sea.
The organization of these maneuvers raises concerns on NATO's eastern flank. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, all members of the Atlantic Alliance and neighbors of Belarus, remain on high alert.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of "critical days" for his country and Warsaw ordered a total closure of its border with Belarus until the maneuvers are over. Lithuania and Latvia, in turn, also announced partial closures of their airspace.
Tensions with Moscow reached a peak with Wednesday's early morning incursion of some 20 drones into Polish airspace, which forced the mobilization of NATO's anti-aircraft defenses. Warsaw considered it a deliberate incursion, which Moscow rejects.
Friday's maneuvers are "planned exercises, they are not directed against anyone," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Oreshnik missiles
But Ukrainian President Volodimyr Zelensky questioned Moscow's intentions and said the exercises were not "defensive" and "not only aimed at Ukraine."
Zapad maneuvers are usually organized every four years and this year's are the first since the start of the war in Ukraine. The last ones, held in 2021, mobilized some 200,000 Russian troops a few months before the start of their offensive.
However, this year's exercises are expected to be much smaller as hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are deployed in Ukraine.
Belarus claimed in January that 13,000 troops would take part in the maneuvers, but in May indicated that number would be halved.
According to Tusk, the aim of the maneuvers is to simulate the occupation of the Suwalki Corridor, which runs along the border between Poland and Lithuania, with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad to the west and Belarus to the east.
The corridor is often considered a NATO weak point, which could be the first target of a possible Russian attack.
This fear is "absolute nonsense," reacted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
On the other hand, the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has given a new dimension to the maneuvers. Minsk said in August that the maneuvers would include Russia's new experimental nuclear-capable missile, called Oreshnik.
China assured that its new aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait
In recent years, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in modernizing its military, a trend that has unsettled some East Asian governments, despite China's claim that its goals are peaceful.
China has two aircraft carriers currently in operation: the Liaoning and the Shandong, while the Fujian is undergoing sea trials.
The Chinese Navy said Friday that the Fujian's interregional trials and training "are a normal part of the carrier construction process."
They are "not directed at any specific target," Navy spokesman Leng Guowei said in a statement.
Japan's Defense Ministry reported that it had identified three Chinese naval ships Thursday afternoon, including the Fujian, moving southwestward in waters about 200 kilometers northwest of one of the disputed Senkaku Islands.
"Among them, the aircraft carrier Fujian was confirmed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for the first time," it said in a statement.
China has stepped up the expansion of its naval forces in recent years to extend its reach in the Pacific and challenge the U.S.-led alliance.
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