Polish border guards patrol at the Warsaw bridge crossing point on the Belarusian-Polish border, Belarus, amid concern in Europe over recent interceptions of Russian drones in Polish airspace, on Thursday, September 11. Viktor Tolochko/Sputnik/AP

Alarms bells sounded this week in Europe after NATO jets scrambled to intercept an unprecedented Russian drone incursion in Poland. Now there is fresh unease on NATO’s eastern flank, as Russia and Belarus kick off major military drills to test the readiness of their armed forces.

Friday marks the start of the main phase of Zapad-2025, which the Russian Ministry of Defense described as a strategic exercise in “repelling aggression against the Union State,” the official title for the wide-ranging alliance between Minsk and Moscow. The joint ma

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