MOSCOW: Russia and Belarus launched massive military drills on Friday, with Nato-member Poland warning of possible “provocations” as tensions rise on the European Union’s eastern border.

Moscow said 200,000 personnel would take part in the week-long Zapad military exercise in Belarus, western Russia and the Baltic Sea, one of the country’s biggest drills in recent years.

The defence ministry released footage of rows of Russian warships firing artillery, military jets flying in formation and columns of tanks advancing over rugged terrain.

Eighty planes and helicopters, 290 tanks, 15 vessels, and multiple launch rocket systems were taking part in the games, Russia said.

The formal launch of the drills took place on Thursday and the exercises went into full mode on Friday.

On the eve of the exercise, President Vladimir Putin said they were “not directed against anyone”.

Belarus strongman Alexa­nder Lukashenko, who met Putin on Thursday, said the countries were “not doing anything that our opponents are not”.

The pair — both in power for more than two decades — held talks in the Kremlin on Thursday and agreed to deepen the economic and military integration of their ex-Soviet countries.

Putin is expected in the Belarusian capital Minsk to sign a raft of integration agreements on Nov 4.

The military exercises have worried countries in the EU’s eastern flank.

Poland has introduced a state of emergency along its eastern border, the first time the measure has been used since the fall of Communism.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned of possible “provocations” and said the exercises were one reason Warsaw introduced the state of emergency.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told local journalists on Friday that the country was prepared for possible “borderline incidents”.

Warsaw has deployed troops to build a barbed wire fence along the border after a growing number of migrants — mostly from the Middle East _ have tried to cross into the country from Belarus.

Latvia — which borders Belarus and Russia and has also reported an unusually big number of migrants trying to enter the EU country — has held military drills since late last month.

The military exercise involves 10,000 troops from a number of NATO countries, including the United States and Poland.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2021