Russia will not conduct the major military exercises known as Zapad (West) this year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said. The Zapad exercise was supposed to take place this month. "No, this year we have 'training' in Ukraine," Shoigu said on September 4 after talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Russia last staged the Zapad drills with its ally Belarus in September 2021, five months before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov announced the Zapad exercises for this year in December. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.
Russia Confirms It Won't Hold Zapad Military Exercises This Year
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit the Mulino training ground to observe the military exercises Zapad-2021 staged by the armed forces of Russia and Belarus in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region on September 13, 2021.