Putin Visits Mulino Training Ground in Nizhny Novgorod as Part of Zapad-2025 Exercises
15:35 GMT 16.09.2025 (Updated: 16:38 GMT 16.09.2025)
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Russian-Belarusian joint strategic exercises Zapad-2025 are taking place from September 12 to 16. Their goal is to test the capabilities of the two countries to ensure the military security of the Union State, as well as readiness to repel possible aggression.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Mulino training ground in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Region to monitor the main phase of the Zapad-2025 military drills.
The goal of the "Zapad-2025" exercises is to practice the defense of the Union State of Russia and Belarus against any aggression, the president stated.
🇷🇺 PUTIN INSPECTS SAMPLES OF WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT AT 'MULINO' TRAINING GROUND https://t.co/B62nttUeR3 pic.twitter.com/M6b3KJGmir
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Events of the drills are taking place at 41 training grounds, with 100,000 military personnel taking part in them and about 10,000 weapons and equipment systems involved, the president added.
"Moreover, this is all modern equipment used in practical combat work, and the plans for the exercise are based on the experience gained during the special military operation. Ten thousand types of equipment, including 333 aircraft: tactical aviation, strategic aviation and military transport aviation. More than 247 ships are also used: surface, submarine and support vessels," Putin said.
📹 PUTIN TRIES ON NEW THERMAL BALLISTIC GOGGLES https://t.co/DSbBbt0wBb pic.twitter.com/kVszhoKaHV
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Twenty-five foreign delegations arrived to participate in the drills, of which 16 states sent representatives, and six sent military contingents to participate in the events within the framework of the strategic exercise, the president also said, wishing luck to all the participants of the drills.
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The president arrived at the training ground in military uniform and after the completion of the active phase of the drills thanked the representatives of the military-diplomatic corps and foreign military observers for their participation.
🚨PUTIN TALKS TO REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN STATES INVITED TO THE "ZAPAD-2025" MILITARY EXERCISES https://t.co/iGYMGoteHg pic.twitter.com/q84W1S4z3B
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) September 16, 2025
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov on Tuesday reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the progress of the Russian-Belarusian joint strategic exercise Zapad-2025.
"The event will involve military command bodies, troops of the Leningrad and Moscow military circles, formations, military units of the aerospace forces, airborne troops and central subordination, forces of the Northern and Baltic fleets from the Russian side. From the Belarusian side - troops included in the regional group," Belousov said.
According to the plan of the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 drills the joint group of troops are reflecting military aggression in the Western theater of operations, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Evkurov said on Tuesday.
"According to the plan of the drills, the joint group of troops reflects a large-scale military aggression in the western theater of military operations. Military operations are conducted in three directions and in the Arctic zone," Evkurov said.
The main and most intensive stage of the Russian-Belarusian joint strategic Zapad-2025 drills will be held at the Mulino training ground in Rusisa's Nizhny Novgorod Region, according to the reference materials for this stage of the exercise released on Tuesday.
"The main, most intensive stage of the practical actions of the troops (forces) will take place in the Nizhny Novgorod Region at the Mulino training ground of the 333rd Combat Training Center (ground forces, airborne troops and coastal forces of the navy) of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Russian armed forces of the Russian Federation," the reference materials indicate.
The main features of the main stage of the exercise are the massive use of unmanned aircraft, ground-based robotic systems and electronic warfare; the development of assault operations on motorcycles, buggies, ATVs, fighting enemy drones by various means; the effective use of military air defense, precision-guided munitions and modern means of counter-battery warfare, taking into account the experience of a special military operation.
"More than 100 representatives of the military-diplomatic corps and observers from 55 countries will observe the main stage of the exercise at the Mulino training ground," the reference materials read.
Actions of troops of partner states in defeating the mock aggressor in the border area will be worked out at Mulino and will involve more than 50,000 Russian military personnel and up to 7,000 military personnel from Belarus.
"In order to solve joint tasks under the joint command during the joint strategic exercise Zapad-2025, a coalition group of troops has been created... designed to prepare joint actions during an operation aimed at neutralizing the armed conflict in the border areas of the Union State and defeating the aggressor... The coalition group of forces includes operational groups and military contingents of the armed forces of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The armed forces of three countries - Burkina Faso, Congo and Mali - have also sent their operational groups to work as part of the joint headquarters of the coalition group of forces. The joint headquarters of the coalition group of forces is collecting, summarizing, analyzing and evaluating data on the situation in order to predict it and shorten the decision-making time," the statement read.
16 September, 09:48 GMT
