Russia simulated invading Europe and bombing Germany with massive drills just months ago, analysts reveal
- War games featuring thousands of soldiers took place in Belarus in September
- Russia claimed that they were defensive in nature with foreign monitors present
- But analysts claim it was a dry-run for a 'shock campaign' against NATO states
- 'Zapad' drills featured mock invasion of land linking Belarus to Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, analysts said
Russia simulated going to war against NATO, bombing Germany and invading Baltic states during Vladimir Putin's 'West 2017' military exercises, analysts have revealed.
A massive programme of war games featuring tens of thousands of troops and code named 'Zapad' took place near the Belarus capital Minsk in September.
At the time there were fears Moscow was using the training as a cover to station soldiers and equipment in the country.
Analysts from two Western intelligence agencies have now claimed that the exercises, which included artillery, tanks, rocket launches and simulated air and navy raids, were a dry-run for a 'shock campaign' against Western European NATO members - including Germany and the Netherlands.
Russia simulated going to war against NATO, bombing Germany and invading Baltic states during its 'West 2017' military exercises, analysts have revealed. Troops are pictured during the drills
Explosive: Shells explode during the Zapad (West) 2017 Russia-Belarus military exercises at the Borisovsky range in Borisov, Belarus in September
Russia's 'Zapad' war games simulated the occupation of adjacent nations, analysts say. This graphic shows where the rehearsals were carried out and what military forces took part
The drills also rehearsed the capture of the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania- as well as Poland, Norway and the non-aligned states of Sweden and Finland, the analysts told German newspaper Bild.
Russia's neighbours claimed at the time that the Kremlin was using the exercises as a rehearsal for an occupation of a number of adjacent nations that were under Moscow's rule before the Communist Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
Moscow has repeatedly said the exercises, which began on September 14, were purely defensive in nature and were not aimed at targeting a third country or group of countries.
However, the analysts told Bild the drills were essentially a practice run of a 'full-scale conventional war against NATO in Europe'.
The unnamed experts said the drills imagined the invasion of the Sulwalki Gap, a small area of NATO land that links Belarus with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
A mock state on a similar stretch of land was created during Zapad and named 'Veyshnoria' before it was 'invaded' as part of the war games.
The experts also claimed Russia practised 'neutralising or taking under control air fields and harbours (in eastern Europe), so there are no reinforcements arriving from other NATO states there'.
Military power: Tanks could be seen rumbling across open land in Belarus - which borders Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. Analysts say the drills were a dry-run for a 'shock campaign' against Western European NATO members
Analysts also claimed Russia practised 'neutralising or taking under control air fields and harbours (in eastern Europe), so there are no reinforcements arriving from other NATO states there'
The analysts also said that the country's air force flew through the North Sea and past Germany and the Netherlands for two days to rehearse taking out the likes of airports, power reactors and naval bases.
'They exercised bombings of Western European targets, approaching the German and Dutch coast from the North Sea as well as Swedish, Finish and Polish mainland from the Baltic Sea,' the sources said.
'The drill included waves of Tu-95 strategic bombers as well as support aircraft like fighter jets and refuelling planes.'
Targets in a real-life situation would include 'critical infrastructure, that is, air fields, harbours, energy supplies and so on, in order to shock the countries and make the populations demand from their governments that "we shouldn’t be involved here, we should go for peace instead"'.
The analysts also said that the country's air force flew through the North Sea and past Germany and the Netherlands for two days to rehearse taking out the likes of airports, power reactors and naval bases
At the time, the Kremlin said it had provided exhaustive information on the exercises before they were held to the military attaches of all interested countries and allowed their observers to attend the event to allay any concerns
Training manoeuvres over the North Sea may have been designed to show Russia has plans for 'show of force attacks' deep in Western air space, the sources said.
They also suggested missile defence systems were better prepared in Eastern European NATO states compared to the likes of Britain, Germany and Denmark.
The once-in-four-year war games also involved anti-submarine warfare and air defence drills throughout the Baltic Sea, it is claimed. This was to practise weakening NATO in the event of an invasion of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
There were also anti-aircraft, anti-ship and even anti-combat diver drills in the area, the sources said.
Attacks on Sweden and Finland were also rehearsed in September because Russia 'would not expect them to remain neutral' in the event of a real war, the experts suggested.
Show of force: A Russian jet takes part in the Zapad war games in September. Analysts said the exercises rehearsed invasions and bombing raids on Western targets
Up to 12,700 troops took part in the drills in Belarus while a further 12,000 were involved in training in Leningrad and Pskov regions - close to the border with Estonia, - and 10,000 more were sent to the Kola peninsula, the sources said
Some of the thousands of troops deployed during the exercise are said to have been sent to the Kola peninsula, which borders Norway and Finland. One of the sources said Russia may have plans in place to 'neutralise assets' in the region.
Another exercise reportedly saw two waves of Tu-95 and Tu-22m3 bombers as well as 50 war ships practising raids on Norway's Svalbard archipelago between Russia and the Arctic Ocean.
The once-in-four-year war games also involved anti-submarine warfare and air defence drills throughout the Baltic Sea, it is claimed, to practise weakening NATO in the event of an invasion of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
There were also anti-aircraft, anti-ship and even anti-combat diver drills in the area.
Attacks on Sweden and Finland were also rehearsed in September because Russia 'would not expect them to remain neutral' in the event of a real war, the experts suggested.
Some of the thousands of troops deployed during the exercise were sent to the Kola peninsula, which borders Norway and Finland. One of the sources said Russia may have plans in place to 'neutralise assets' in the region.
At the time of the drills, the Kremlin said it had provided exhaustive information on the exercises before they were held to the military attaches of all interested countries and allowed their observers to attend the event to allay any concerns. Soldiers are pictured on parade during the drills
Another exercise reportedly saw two waves of Tu-95 and Tu-22m3 bombers as well as 50 war ships practising raids on Norway's Svalbard archipelago between Russia and the Arctic Ocean. Pictured: a helicopter during exercises in Belarus
Another exercise reportedly saw two waves of Tu-95 and Tu-22m3 bombers as well as 50 war ships practising raids on Norway's Svalbard archipelago between Russia and the Arctic Ocean.
Up to 12,700 troops took part in the drills in Belarus while a further 12,000 were involved in training in Leningrad and Pskov regions - close to the border with Estonia, - and 10,000 more were sent to the Kola peninsula, the sources said.
But taking into account navy and airforce personnel and National Guard troops, more than 120,000 were involved, they added.
At the time of the drills, the Kremlin said it had provided exhaustive information on the exercises before they were held to the military attaches of all interested countries and allowed their observers to attend the event to allay any concerns.
But the analysts refuted this claim, saying that there was 'not a single observer' - just 'invited guests' from NATO members who were allowed to watch some of the exercises. They were not given access to all of the units that took part, they said.
Speaking as the drills were taking place, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said Warsaw opposed any lifting of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and role in its separatist conflict.
'We are very concerned by what is happening in Belarus, from the exercises there,' Szydlo said during a visit to Bulgaria.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite made the exercises the centrepiece of her annual speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
'Even as we speak, around 100,000 Russian troops are engaged in offensive military exercise "Zapad 2017" on the borders of the Baltic States, Poland and even in the Arctic,' she said at the time.
'The Kremlin is rehearsing aggressive scenarios against its neighbours, training its army to attack the West. The exercise is also part of information warfare aimed at spreading uncertainty and fear.'
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