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ZAPAD exercise, conflict with Russia: Why Poland will shut borders with Belarus
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced closure of its borders with the neighboring nation just hours before Russian drones were spotted in its airspace.
Amid fears of a greater conflict with Russia, Poland has announced it will be shutting its borders with Belarus. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw would close its borders with the neighboring nation just hours before Russian drones were spotted in Polish airspace early Wednesday.
After the drone sightings, Poland scrambled military jets and temporarily shut down Warsaw airport while urging residents to stay indoors. According to the Polish military, the drones entered Polish airspace after crossing over from Ukraine. Follow Poland Russia conflict updates here
An operation was conducted to identify and neutralize “those objects,” said the Polish military, adding that weapons have been used to down the “drone-type objects." Following this operation, Polish PM Tusk stated that a large number of drones were fired from Belarus.
Why Poland is shutting its borders with Belarus
On Tuesday, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw plans to close its border with Belarus on Friday. This decision comes in light of a military exercise Belarus conducts with Russian forces.
Tusk argued that rising number of “various provocations” from Belarus and Russia as well as “very aggressive” nature of the exercise close to the Polish frontier are the reasons behind the decision.
From midnight on Friday, all border crossings between Poland and Belarus, including rail links, will be shut down due to “various provocations” from the two allied nations and the “aggressive nature” of the Zapad military exercise, Polish authorities announced.
Apart from the tensions caused by the Zapad exercise, the Polish government has also accused Belarus and Russia of deliberately pushing illegal migrants across the border into Poland.
Warsaw claims the two countries have been flying in migrants from the Middle East and Africa and forcing them to cross the heavily guarded, fenced frontier.
What is the Zapad military exercise?
The military exercise called Zapad (West) between Russia and Poland will begin on September 12. The joint military exercise is a closely watched one in Europe as it will be the first one since the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022.
Six months after the Zapad 2021 exercise between Russia and Belarus concluded, Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine using forces that had remained stationed in Belarus.
More than 30,000 Russian troops were deployed in Belarus in 2021 under the guise of joint training exercises. Russia had claimed they would return home once the drills ended in late February, but instead those troops were ordered to march toward Kyiv, marking the start of the deadliest conflict Europe has seen since World War II.
This year’s exercise will also see the participation of more than twenty countries, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Congo, Mali, India, Iran, Niger, and Tajikistan.
According to the Indian Defence Ministry, a contingent of 65 armed forces personnel will take part in the multilateral joint military exercise scheduled from September 10 to 16, 2025.
Europe on alert
Since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, several NATO nations and European countries have expressed concerns of a greater conflict with Russia, with Germany even preparing war plans incase of a Russian invasion.
With the sudden increase in attacks between Russia and Ukraine, especially after Trump's intervention, and now with drones spotted over Poland, Europe continues to remain on alert.
In 2021, the Zapad exercise garnered as many as 200,000 troops. Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine taking place months after this multi-national drill, the 2025 exercise has once again sounded alarms across the continent.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
