According to Minsk, Russia and Belarus will conduct combined military drills in September.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that the Russian and Belarusian troops will participate in combined strategic exercises in Belarus from September 12–16.
In order to “ensure the military security of the Union State and their readiness to repel possible aggression,” the ministry quoted Major General Valery Revenko as saying that the drills are being held to test the capabilities of both Belarus and Russia.

The two former Soviet republics and their neighbors constitute the Union State, a borderless alliance.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a warning that Russia was “preparing something” in Belarus this summer under the pretense of regular military drills, but he did not provide specifics or evidence.

Revenko, the Major General, said the Belarusian-Russian drills were “being used as a pretext for ongoing militarisation” in neighbouring NATO countries, citing upcoming joint NATO drills in Poland involving at least 34,000 troops.

Since Moscow utilized Belarusian territory as a staging ground for an attack on Kyiv that it launched in February 2022, Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, has suffered a decline in relations with Ukraine and its western neighbors in recent years.