Russia and Belarus gear up for major military exercise Zapad-2025
Minsk and Moscow are preparing for the Zapad-2025 (West-2025) military exercises, which this year will take place in Belarus and involve approximately 13,000 soldiers. As part of the preparations for the manoeuvres, training has begun for the personnel belonging to the Regional Joint Forces Grouping, as reported by the Belarusian Ministry of Defence. The aim is to "increase the defence capability" of Russia and Belarus.
On Tuesday, January 14th, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence's press service announced the start of training for the personnel of the Joint Command of the Regional Joint Forces Grouping of Belarus and Russia. The exercises are part of the preparations for the Zapad-2025 manoeuvres, anticipated to be among the largest in recent years. According to announcements, Minsk and Moscow will involve about 13,000 soldiers and a substantial amount of military equipment.
Russia and Belarus plan Zapad-2025
In October 2024, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov announced that the concept of the Zapad-2025 military exercises takes into account the "modern threats" to Russia and Belarus. He also mentioned that the Russians are continuing to analyze equipment captured by NATO. As he noted: "We will identify its weak points and use these features when creating new weapons."
Meanwhile, the head of the Belarusian Defence Ministry, Viktor Khrenin, emphasized at the time: "In these difficult times of global impasse between the West and East, we intend to maintain our achieved level of cooperation to develop and expand it further for the sake of the sovereignty and independence of our countries."
Cyclical manoeuvres of Moscow and Minsk
Russia and Belarus conduct the strategic Zapad exercises every two years. The first exercises of this type took place in 2009, and the last ones were held in 2021. Those planned for 2023 were cancelled. Neither Minsk nor Moscow officially commented on the reasons for the decision. Unofficially, it was said there was a lack of sufficient soldiers and military equipment since the war in Ukraine required significantly larger resources than initially anticipated.
Approximately 200,000 soldiers, over 80 airplanes and helicopters, and 760 pieces of equipment, including more than 290 tanks and 240 artillery units, participated in the Zapad-2021 manoeuvres. They were considered some of the largest in the region. Some exercises were conducted on training grounds near the border with Poland. After their conclusion, Gen. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov stated that they demonstrated the Russian army's capability to "stop any aggression and conduct a decisive attack."
What equipment will appear at Zapad-2025?
It is unknown what equipment will appear this year. However, it is worth recalling that the Zapad-2021 manoeuvres involved, among others, long-range S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, self-propelled artillery and missile anti-aircraft Tunguska 2K22 systems, 9K38 surface-to-air missile systems, multi-role fighter jets Su-30, bombers Su-24, fighter jets Su-24, helicopters Mi-24, helicopters Ka-27m, armoured personnel carriers BTR-80, BMP-2, BMP-3, as well as tanks T-72B3 and T-72-BZM.
The Zapad-2025 exercises will take place in Belarus. The Odessa Journal reports that an increased military presence can already be noticed along the border with Ukraine, particularly in the Stolin, Lelchytsy, Mozyr, and Homel regions. The Ukrainian armed forces are monitoring the situation at the border. According to them, there is currently no threat of invasion by regular Belarusian forces.
It is worth noting that the specific date for the Zapad-2025 manoeuvres has not yet been announced. They are most likely to begin in the second half of the year.
