The Russian and Belarusian armed forces will hold joint strategic drills in Belarus from 12 to 16 September, the Belarusian Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday.

According to Major General Valery Revenko, the exercises are intended to test the capabilities of both militaries, safeguard the Union State’s security, and demonstrate readiness to repel any potential aggression. The Union State is a political and economic alliance between the two neighbouring former Soviet republics.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned without providing details or evidence that Russia might be “preparing something” in Belarus over the summer under the cover of routine exercises.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Time magazine last week that he had moved the location of the drills away from Belarus’ western borders with EU states, citing security concerns voiced in Poland and the Baltic countries. He dismissed speculation that Belarus could use the exercises to attack those nations as “complete nonsense.”

Revenko argued that the Belarus-Russia drills were being used as a justification for “ongoing militarisation” in neighbouring NATO states, pointing to upcoming joint NATO exercises in Poland involving more than 34,000 troops.

Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, has seen ties with its western neighbours and Ukraine sharply worsen in recent years, particularly after Moscow used Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its assault on Kyiv in February 2022.

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