Overview
- Belarus’s general staff chief said the exercise met its objectives, including planning for non-strategic nuclear employment and evaluating the mobile Oreschnik missile system.
- Vladimir Putin visited the drills and asserted participation of 100,000 troops and about 10,000 systems across 41 ranges, while Belarus gave far lower figures and the true scale remains disputed.
- Operations spanned training grounds in Belarus and Russia as well as the Baltic and Barents seas, featuring heavy drone employment, electronic warfare and tactics drawn from the war in Ukraine.
- NATO increased vigilance after multiple Russian drones entered Polish airspace before the exercise, and the alliance said the maneuvers did not constitute an immediate military threat.
- India’s limited troop contribution drew criticism from the EU’s foreign policy chief, who questioned New Delhi’s choice as Brussels seeks closer ties with the country.