Rehearsal for war? Or just geography?

On NATO's doorstep, Russia could be said to be rehearsing for war, according to Sky News.

- THE IDLER

“Zapad-2025” are the Eastern allies’ first joint exercises since the invasion of Ukraine and last Sunday involved the launch of a hypersonic missile in the Barents Sea.

“There are several strategic goals here that Russia and Belarus want to achieve,” Hanna Liubakova, an independent Belarusian journalist, told Sky News.

“Scare them, show that they are capable, show that they can threaten... and of course, they're also checking what the reaction and response could be?

The reaction so far has been frosty, to say the least. Ahead of the drills, Poland closed its border with Belarus and deployed more than 30 000 troops as part of its own military exercises.

Lithuania is also holding drills and says it will bolster defences along its frontiers with Russia and Belarus.