Overview

• Putin appeared in military uniform at a training ground in Nizhny Novgorod on September 16 to inspect troops and weapons.
• Belarus’s defence ministry said the drills practiced nuclear use and included a launch of the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile.
• Officials and state media reported more than 100,000 personnel, activity across 41 training grounds, and over 240 naval vessels.
• U.S. officers attended as observers for the first time since 2022, with Belarus’s Viktor Khrenikov receiving the delegation that included Lt. Col. Bryan Shoupe.
• The maneuvers followed recent Russian drone incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace that led Poland to invoke NATO’s Article 4.