Russia and Belarus to Hold Zapad 2025 Exercises at 13 Training Grounds, Eight of Them Near the Border of Ukraine and NATO

Russia and Belarus will deploy their units at 13 training grounds, eight of which are located in regions bordering Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia, as part of the Zapad 2025 exercise.

This was reported by the volunteer project Inform Napalm.

The exercises will take place at training grounds in both Russia and Belarus. They will involve armored, artillery, and infantry units of both armies.

Out of this number of locations, joint units will be deployed at four Belarusian training grounds – Brest, Domanov, Obuz-Lesnovsk and Gozhsk, located near the borders of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.

The closest to the border is the Brest training range, located in the Brest region, near the city of Brest, a few kilometers from the state border with Poland.

Also in the immediate vicinity is the Gozhske landfill in the Grodno region, near the city of Grodno. The distance from it to the borders with Poland (to the west) and Lithuania (to the north) is only 10-15 km.

We also recommend reading the author’s article: Zapad 2025: Russia and Belarus have launched large-scale exercises near NATO’s borders.

The exercises will also be held at the Obuz-Lesnovsk and Domanovsk training ranges in the Brest region, Belarus’ border region with Ukraine and Poland. The distance from them to the border with Poland is approximately 30-50 km, and to the border with Ukraine – 60-70 km.

Among other Belarusian training grounds, the Borisov training ground, located 70 kilometers northeast of Minsk, at a considerable distance from the state borders with Ukraine and Poland, will be used. In addition, on the territory of Russia, troops will be deployed at the Ashuluk, Kamenka, Kingisepp, Mulino, Pechenezhsky, Pravdinsky, Pumanka, and Khmelevka training ranges.

Of these, four are located in close proximity to the border: Kingisepp is less than 10 kilometers from the border with Estonia, Pechenezh is 20 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, Pravdinsk is less than 20 kilometers from the border with Poland and 30 kilometers from the border with Lithuania, and Khmelovka is 30 kilometers from the state border with Ukraine.

According to the InformNapalm community, these exercises could be a way to deploy Russian troops in Belarus, which were gradually withdrawn from the country after 2022.

Due to the deterioration of relations between Russia and NATO countries, primarily due to the intrusion of Russian drones into Poland, Moscow may begin a show of force involving ground and air units.