Russia and Belarus kicked off joint military exercises Zapad on Friday. Poland closed all border crossings with Belarus from midnight due to the exercises. TASR reports this, according to a report by the AFP agency.

"Joint strategic maneuvers of the Russian and Belarusian armies... have begun," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Airspace violation

The Zapad exercises come as Russian troops advance across a wide front line in Ukraine and intensify air strikes on Ukrainian cities. They also come after cheap Russian-made Gerber drones, which are used as decoys for air defenses, violated Polish airspace on Wednesday night during Russian attacks on Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced before the incident that Poland would close its border with Belarus on Thursday night in connection with the start of the Zapad joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises. Railway crossings will also be closed. Lithuania and Latvia have also announced partial airspace closures.

Tusk also warned of “critical days” for his country, saying Poland was closer to “open conflict” than at any time since World War II. Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on Thursday that Poland was engaged in a hybrid war with Russia on land, at sea and in the air, and was exposed to Russian disinformation.

Russian position on the exercises

Moscow has played down those concerns, AFP notes."These planned exercises are not directed against anyone," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, rejecting claims by Polish officials that the exercises are an aggressive show of force.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also drew attention to Moscow's intentions."The purpose of such steps by Russia is definitely not defensive and is directed not only against Ukraine," he said.

The Zapad exercises, which are usually held every four years, will take place in 2025 for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine and will last until September 16.

Moscow sent about 200,000 troops to similar exercises in 2021, just months before it launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to AFP. This year's exercises are expected to be smaller, as hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are deployed in Ukraine. Belarus said in January that 13,000 troops would take part in the exercises, but in May it announced that this number would be cut by about half.

NATO invasion simulation

The Polish prime minister says the exercises are designed to simulate the occupation of the Suwałki Corridor, which AFP considers a NATO weak point and could potentially be the first target of a Russian attack. However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called such concerns"pure nonsense."

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin announced in August that Belarus would practice deploying both Russian Oreshnik ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons during joint maneuvers.