Major joint military drills by Russia and Belarus — where troops practice war games on Nato’s borders — have ignited fresh security concerns for member states.

The main phase of Zapad-2025, described by the Russian Ministry of Defence as a strategic exercise in “repelling aggression against the Union State”, started on Friday and will continue throughout the weekend.

Some 30,000 Belarusian and Russian service members are taking part, with 8,000 troops carrying out drills on Belarusian soil.

Troops practised “at firing ranges in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation and in the Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea”, according to Russian officials.

Videos released by the Russian Defence Ministry show patrol boats destroying mock underwater targets.

Russian Navy crew were tas

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