What is ZAPAD 2025? Indian soldiers join anti-NATO drills. Why it matters
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "What is ZAPAD 2025? Indian soldiers join anti-NATO drills. Why it matters")
India is participating in the ZAPAD 2025 exercise in Russia. Photograph: (X/@hindookissinger)
The Indian Armed Forces contingent comprising 65 personnel also departed on September 9 for the Mulino Training Ground, Nizhniy, Russia, to participate in the multilateral joint military exercise ZAPAD 2025.
ZAPAD 2025, a joint military exercise between Russian and Belarusian forces, has started on 12 September and will end on September 16 amid escalating tensions in the region. The locations for the exercise have been included in the city of Barysaw, about 74 kilometres (46 miles) northeast of Belarus's capital, Minsk, and the Grodno region, bordering Poland and Lithuania. In addition, some exercises will take place in western Russia, along with the deployment of the Navy in the Baltic and Barents seas, and the Arctic Ocean, according to a report in DW.
In 2025, fewer than 13,000 troops have attended the exercises from the two participating nations. Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow in 2021, around 200,000 troops from Russia and Belarus were involved in the ZAPAD exercise.
Meanwhile, an Indian Armed Forces contingent comprising 65 personnel also departed on September 9 for the Mulino Training Ground, Nizhniy, Russia, to participate in the multilateral joint military exercise ZAPAD 2025. The contingent of the Indian Army comprises 57 personnel ,along with 07 personnel from the Indian Air Force and 01 from the Indian Navy. It is being led by a battalion of the KUMAON Regiment, accompanied by troops from other arms and services.
What is ZAPAD 2025 anti-NATO exercise?
ZAPAD drills are held every four years, in which Russia and its chief European ally, Belarus, take part in joint military exercises in each of their regions. The key event of the exercise is the "Union State" forces, a joint economic and defence partnership between Russia and Belarus, to simulate and prepare for possible conflict.
The first drills occurred in 1999 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and since 2009, it has been conducted every four years. The last exercise of ZAPAD held in 2021, before the full-scale invasion by Russia of Ukraine, according to a report in DW.
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It is also aimed to enhance military cooperation, improve interoperability, and provide a platform for participating armies to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures in the domains of conventional warfare and counter-terrorism operations. The drill is done in open and plain terrain during joint company-level operations. In this, troops undertake missions ranging from joint planning, tactical drills, and special arms skills.
Why is NATO worried about ZAPAD 2025 drills?
As soon as the exercise began near NATO borders and followed alleged Russian drone incursions into Poland and Romania, concern among European neighbours arose. NATO and nearby countries are interpreting these drills as provocative and a test of readiness, according to a report in Associated Press.
Russia has used the drills to display advanced weapon capabilities, launching hypersonic missiles (like Zircon) from a frigate in the Barents Sea, performing simulated bombing runs with Su-34s, and flying MiG-31s equipped with hypersonic ballistic missiles (Kinzhal), as per the Reuters report.
