Drills

Zapad-2017 strategic exercise kicks off in Russia and Belarus

The Zapad-2017 (or West 2017) joint Russian-Belarusian military drills have kicked off in the two countries, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"Heads of military administrative bodies and commanders of units involved in the drills have received instructions from the General Staff of the Union State concerning their training tasks," the statement reads.

The drills involve up to 12,700 troops, including 7,200 Belarusian and around 5,500 Russian troops, with up to 3,000 of them deployed to Belarus.

"Staged tactical events and live firing exercises, involving aircraft and air defense units, will take place at the Lepelsky, Losvido, Borisovsky, Osipovichesky, Ruzhansky and Domanovsky training ranges, as well as in the Dretun area in Belarus, and also at the Luzhsky, Strugi Krasnye and Pravdinsky training ranges in Russia.