On July 17, the Russian news agency TASS published an interview with the Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov. The first thesis: Zapad-2017 does not threaten security and stability in the region due to the small number of forces declared in manoeuvres. So, from July 23 or August 15? Analysis of information on the preparation of the forthcoming manoeuvres in documents and open sources allows us to debunk two main theses of Russian propaganda about the Zapad-2017 exercises. The Press Office of the Belarusian Defense Department on 21 July has stated that logistics support units of the Western Military district of the Russian Armed Forces “arrive from July 23 rd“. However, it should be noted that the preparation of the largest military manoeuvres this year near the borders of NATO and Ukraine appears somewhat differently.

These special features will be held as part of the preparation of the Russian and Belarusian joint strategic exercises Zapad-2017. According to the press office of the Belarusian Defense Department, the Russian units will collaborate with their Belarusian counterparts “on issues of technical coverage” such as military roads, evacuation, reparation and repair of defective equipment and weapons, deployment of a field trunk pipeline, as well as areas of mass refueling technology”. Since 15 August 2017, transport and logistical support from the Russian armed forces arrive in Belarus. How will the 13,000 troops governed by the OSCE Vienna documents be placed within the framework of the exercise? How to prepare a springboard for aggression, at the same time the appearance of “exaggeration of threats”? The tactics have been developed for a long time in practice and continue to develop successfully.

On the eve of the large-scale manoeuvres Zapad-2017, the Russian military leadership has come across the dilemma of how to “frighten” NATO with the inflated power of the Russian army.

Nato-manöver ukraine 2020