U.S. military officers recently observed the Belarus -based joint Zapad-2025 exercises between Belarus and Russia . Held on NATO ‘s doorstep and explicitly designed to rehearse war against the alliance Washington, D.C., leads, it was startling to see U.S. officers among the observers. Alongside them were Turkish and Hungarian representatives, as Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov presided over drills that simulated attacks on the West.

The exercises spanned Belarusian and Russian territory and extended into the Baltic and Barents seas. They featured demonstrations of nuclear and missile capabilities, including the Kinzhal ballistic missile, which has already been used in Ukraine, and the Zircon hypersonic system. According to Belarus’s Defense Ministry, about 7,000

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