By Tyler Durden
On Friday Russia and its longtime isolated former Soviet satellite ally Belarus kicked off what’s being described as Europe’s largest military drills in decades, involving up to 200,000 troops – including elite paratroopers – nearly 800 tanks, and 15 warships plus 80 aircraft, according to Russian defense ministry (MoD) figures.
Dubbed ‘Zapad-2021’ – the exercises are taking place jointly at nine Russian and five Belarusian ranges and bases, with close to 13,000 Russian troops being hosted on Belarusian soil. By comparison, one of NATO’s recent and largest exercises in Europe, Trident Juncture 2018, involved only 40,000 troops.
#Footage For the first time Russian #AirborneTroops to airdrop a fully equipped parachute battallion on the latest #BMD4M vehicles during the #Zapad2021 exercise https://t.co/EQWTfACl8R#RussiaBelarus #JointExercises #CombatTraining #StrategicExercises pic.twitter.com/qrpu6ldVl8
— ĐинОйОŃĐžĐ˝Ń Đ ĐžŃŃии (@mod_russia) September 10, 2021