{"id":141505,"date":"2025-06-05T18:58:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/141505\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuanian-army-russias-hands-full-in-ukraine-unlikely-to-use-zapad-2025-for-attack","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/141505\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian army: Russia\u2019s hands full in Ukraine, unlikely to use Zapad-2025 for attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June 5, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>Russia’s war against Ukraine will limit the Kremlin’s ability to stage a potential attack on Lithuania during the Belarusian-Russian Zapad-2025 drill scheduled for September, the Lithuanian Armed Forces have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, security concerns expressed by the public and media are not groundless as the maneuvers are planned in a neighboring country, the statement noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The active phase of Zapad-2025 will last about a week in mid-September, while the redeployment of forces and other related activities are possible in August \u2013 October, the Lithuanian military said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of troops has been recently reduced from 13,000 to 7,000, which may or may not mean anything, it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declared purpose of the drill held every two years is usually testing combat readiness to protect the Union State of Belarus and Russia yet in practice the maneuvers represent a show of force to the West, Vilnius stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week ago, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin announced a \u201creduction in parameters\u201d of Zapad-2025 and moving the drill away from the frontier into the depth of Belarus. Some analysts speculated that Minsk and Moscow scaled down the drill because Russia\u2019s forces were stretched thin by the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuanian Foreign Minister K\u0119stutis Budrys warned earlier this year that the scale of Zapad exercises has always been far larger than declared, urging NATO to respond symmetrically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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