Its a drone!
Posted on 09/15/2025 1:24:11 PM PDT by McGruff
Russia put on a display of firepower as part of its major military exercises in Belarus on Monday, with neighboring NATO nations on alert amid some of the highest tensions in Europe since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
...
The drills come less than a week after around two dozen Russian long-range drones crossed into Poland, which shares a 260-mile border with Belarus and a 130-mile border with Kaliningrad. At least three drones were shot down by responding Polish F-16 and Dutch F-35 fighters, Warsaw said.
The incursion was by far the largest-ever of Russian drones into NATO airspace, a move that has alarmed allied countries and fueled fears the war is escalating and spreading. Polish and allied officials have said that the incursion was intentional.
Zapad is expected to host demonstrations by Russia's nuclear forces, launches of Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles and operations related to Russia's Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is a nuclear-capable weapon and has been used to strike Ukraine.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The last time Russia held these exercises in 2021, it used them as cover to build up its troops to invade Ukraine months later.
Exactly what I was going to post. Get ready NATO!
NATO should schedule a winter war game in Finland and call it “White Death.” Russia will understand the implications.
Russian analysts and pro-military commentators are openly criticizing the country’s latest Zapad 2025 military exercises, accusing the country’s Ministry of Defense of staging unrealistic maneuvers that ignore hard-learned lessons from the war in Ukraine.
Influential Telegram channel Voenny Osvedomitel, known for its ties to military insiders and OSINT groups, condemned the exercises as out of touch with modern battlefield conditions.
“Tu-22M3 and Su-34 bombers carried out strikes using free-falling bombs from low altitude,” the channel reported, adding that Russian paratroopers “loaded their BMD-2s into Il-76MD transport aircraft for parachute landings behind enemy lines.”
“These aren’t exercises,” the post continued. “It’s another circus act for the generals sitting on pedestals with binoculars.”
The backlash reflects growing frustration among military bloggers and analysts who say Russian generals are recycling tactics that failed in Ukraine. In early 2022, Russia’s initial assault on Hostomel Airport near Kyiv featured a similar strategy—airborne troops attempting to seize a critical site by surprise and hold it until reinforcements arrived.
That operation collapsed when Ukrainian forces countered with artillery, airstrikes, and ground resistance. Russian transport aircraft were forced to divert, and airborne units—without proper support—had to push through the Chernobyl Zone to rejoin main forces. Ukrainian Su-24s and artillery units inflicted heavy losses, and Russian tactical aviation has since avoided operating within 40 kilometers of Ukrainian air defenses.
Despite this, the Zapad 2025 drills appear to replicate the same assumptions about uncontested airspace and rapid airborne insertions.
Critics say the Ministry of Defense is more focused on visual spectacle than combat relevance. While Russian forces have adapted in some areas, such as the widespread use of glide bombs and drones, the decision to showcase traditional tactics has raised concerns among observers who fear that leadership remains insulated from front-line realities.
https://defence-blog.com/russian-large-scale-exercises-draw-skepticism-from-analysts/
I remember when we played war games in South Vietnam.
Who Won?
Didn’t we just have big war games in Poland?
I remember real big ones in West Germany 40 years ago.
Big armies have war games.
Putin is an idiot. These shows accomplish nothing.
Why would Russia, who’s losing/barely breaking even its war with Ukraine, open another front? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Can anyone here give a coherent answer?
The short answer is no.
If the current Russia was the mighty USSR of 60 years or so ago, they could have walked into a Ukraine type country, kicked their rears, and then readied for more action.
But they can’t do this anymore. They are depleting their own resources to make small gains. They can no longer roll into a country like they did to Germany at the end of WWII.
So no, I just don’t see them trying to walk into the rest of Europe. Like others said, big powers play war games. That’s all it is.
My understanding is that The US sent two Russian speaking military observers to Belarus as guests to watch these war games take place.
Not exactly what the Ukies were hoping for when they sent drones into Poland.
The drones going into Poland the wargames in Belarus are shows of force by Russia. Those who want any excuse to hyperventilate over such things are hyperventilating over it.
“””””Why would Russia, who’s losing/barely breaking even its war with Ukraine, open another front? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Can anyone here give a coherent answer?”””””
The actions threatening NATO, such as the drones against Poland, isn’t about opening another front, it is about threatening NATO enough to have them want to keep more of their own weaponry and military equipment instead of sending it to Ukraine, it slows the flow and makes everyone remeasure what they can afford to give away and still be safe.
“My understanding is that The US sent two Russian speaking military observers to Belarus as guests to watch these war games take place.
Not exactly what the Ukies were hoping for when they sent drones into Poland.”
Wow! a Putinista’s Putinista! Or perhaps a Moscow bot.
Have not read anything this absurd since that idiot on MSNBC speculated that the shot that murdered Charlie Kirk was fired by a Kirk supporter to celebrate Kirk being there.
Its a drone!
Thanks. This exactly why Russia isn’t going to attack NATO.
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