Russia and Belarus stirred unease across Europe with military drills that included rehearsals involving the launching of tactical nuclear weapons.
Western powers fear the Kremlin is increasingly testing NATO defenses, particularly with a series of recent drone incursions that prompted Poland to call for the military alliance to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine. That the exercises are dubbed “Zapad 2025,” or “West 2025,” has not helped matters.
Moscow and Minsk insist the exercises are purely defensive and, in what they said was a show of openness, invited Western military officials and journalists to watch.
Not everyone is convinced: “I remember hearing similar claims three and a half years ago,” right before Russia invaded Ukraine, the BBC’s Russia editor said.