Russia, Belarus to hold joint military drill next month

MILAN — Russia and Belarus are expected to conduct a joint military exercise next month involving nuclear weapons and Russian-made hypersonic missiles, the Belarusian defense minister said last week.

During a recent press conference in Minsk, Viktor Khrenin declared that the planned “Zapad-2025″ training, to be held from September 12-16, would in part focus on operating the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, used in Russian-launched attacks on Ukraine.

“This is an important element for our strategic deterrence – as the head of state demands, we must be prepared for anything,” Khrenin was quoted by Reuters as saying in an interview with the Belarusian state news agency Belta.

The first operational use of the Russian-manufactured missile was reported on November 21, 2024, after an attack on a Ukrainian industrial complex in Dnipro.

The remarks from Khrenin were made only two days ahead of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska.

The joint exercise, which usually takes place every two years, is also planned to include the simulated use of nuclear weapons, although no specific details were given. Ukrainian officials have warned previously that similar events could be used as a potential cover-up for Russian troop deployments.

The 2025 national threat assessment published by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense noted that although there are currently no Russian ground maneuver units in Belarus, Russia has continued to utilize Belarusian airspace freely.

Last year, Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, signed a treaty providing security guarantees to Minsk, including the potential deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to help fight off any attack.

Nearby neighbour Lithuania, which shares a 679-kilometre border with Belarus, is also conducting its military drill, Arsus Vilkas 2025, taking place until August 22. The event was launched amid the arrival of Russian military equipment in Belarus for the upcoming exercise.

The deployment of Russian hypersonic missiles has posed security concerns regarding their ability to travel at speeds much faster than conventional ballistic projectiles, allowing them to be more challenging to intercept.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——白俄罗斯国防部长上周表示，俄罗斯和白俄罗斯预计将于下个月举行联合军事演习，演习将涉及核武器和俄罗斯制造的高超音速导弹。

在最近于明斯克举行的一次新闻发布会上，维克托·赫列宁宣布，计划于9月12日至16日举行的“西部-2025”训练将部分侧重于操作俄罗斯用于对乌克兰发动袭击的中程“奥列什尼克”导弹。

路透社援引赫列宁在接受白俄罗斯国家通讯社贝尔塔采访时的话说：“这是我们战略威慑的重要组成部分——正如国家元首所要求的，我们必须做好应对任何情况的准备。”

据报道，俄罗斯制造的导弹首次投入实战使用是在 2024 年 11 月 21 日，当时乌克兰第聂伯罗的一个工业综合体遭到袭击。

赫列宁发表这番言论的前两天，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京将在阿拉斯加举行会晤。

此次联合演习通常每两年举行一次，计划包括模拟使用核武器，但具体细节尚未公布。乌克兰官员此前曾警告称，类似演习可能被用作掩盖俄罗斯军队部署的幌子。

立陶宛国防部发布的 2025 年国家威胁评估报告指出，尽管目前白俄罗斯境内没有俄罗斯地面机动部队，但俄罗斯一直在自由使用白俄罗斯领空。

去年，普京与白俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科签署了一项条约，向明斯克提供安全保障，其中包括俄罗斯可能部署核武器以帮助抵御任何攻击。

与白俄罗斯接壤的邻国立陶宛与白俄罗斯共享679公里的边界线，立陶宛也正在进行名为“阿尔苏斯·维尔卡斯2025”的军事演习，演习将持续到8月22日。此次演习的启动正值俄罗斯向白俄罗斯运送军事装备，以备即将举行的演习之用。

俄罗斯高超音速导弹的部署引发了安全方面的担忧，因为它们的飞行速度比传统弹道导弹快得多，因此更难拦截。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。