The announced exercise will be held on 12–16 September. In January, Belarus announced that 13,000 soldiers would participate, but in May the number was reduced to about half of that.
Poland and the Baltic countries on NATO's eastern flank have been on high alert ahead of the exercise, not least since Russian drones have violated Polish airspace earlier in the week. On Tuesday, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland will respond by closing the border with Belarus from the night towards Friday.
Russia has reacted with anger to the Polish message. In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zacharova claims that the decision was made to "justify a policy that further escalates tensions in Central Europe".
