Russia launches cruise missiles in Zapad 2025 military drills with Belarus

Russia and Belarus accidental warfare games are meant to beryllium a amusement of unit designed to trial combat readiness.

Russia has practised launching cruise missiles implicit the Barents Sea during joint subject exercises with Belarus codenamed Zapad (West), according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

The neighbouring allies were wrapping up five days of warfare games connected Tuesday successful a amusement of unit they said is designed to trial their combat readiness. Russian Tu-160 strategical bombers besides performed combat grooming missions amid heightened tensions with NATO countries aft Moscow’s alleged violations of Polish and Romanian airspace.

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About 7,000 soldiers, including 6,000 Belarusians, participated successful the exercises held successful Belarus and Russia.

The drills took spot conscionable days aft Polish and NATO forces changeable down drones violating Polish airspace during Russia’s biggest-ever aerial barrage against neighbouring Ukraine.

Polish airspace has been violated galore times since Russia launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022 but ne'er connected this standard anyplace successful NATO territory. Wednesday’s incidental was the archetypal clip a NATO subordinate is known to person fired shots during Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine.

Romania connected Sunday besides scrambled combatant jets aft a drone breached the country’s airspace during a Russian onslaught connected Ukraine.

After these incidents, the drills person unnerved immoderate neighbouring countries, including Poland, which temporarily closed its borderline with Belarus arsenic a precautionary measure.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said connected Tuesday that nuclear-capable bombers rehearsed launching cruise missiles arsenic they flew implicit neutral waters of the Barents Sea, northbound of Scandinavia, for astir 4 hours portion being escorted by MiG-31 combatant jets.

Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin was owed to observe different portion of the Zapad exercises astatine a grooming crushed successful Russia aboriginal connected Tuesday, his ministry said.

It did not specify the quality of that constituent but said it would instrumentality spot successful “conditions arsenic adjacent arsenic imaginable to combat”.

Belarus is simply a adjacent state of Russia and has supported its warfare successful Ukraine though without committing its ain troops to the fighting. Belarusian person Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to presumption tactical atomic missiles successful Belarus.

United States subject officers observed portion of the Zapad exercises successful Belarus connected Monday, a motion of the warming relations betwixt the US and Belarus nether President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Russian strikes successful Ukraine killed 2 radical and wounded astatine slightest nine, Ukrainian officials said connected Tuesday.

Ivan Fedorov, caput of the subject medication successful southeastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, said a Russian onslaught had killed 1 idiosyncratic and wounded nine, including a child.

The politician of the confederate portion of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, said Russian forces had attacked a workplace there, sidesplitting a tractor operator arsenic helium worked successful the field.

Hopes of reaching a truce successful the struggle person dimmed since Trump held talks separately with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Putin past month.

Tensions person risen further since Poland’s and Romania’s accusations that Russia violated their airspace. Moscow has brushed disconnected the accusations, saying neither Poland nor Romania person presented convincing grounds that the drones were Russian and calling the second incidental a “provocation” by Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said connected Tuesday that Trump volition apt conscionable with Zelenskyy adjacent week and inactive hopes to broker a bid woody betwixt Kyiv and Moscow.