Russia simulated a full-scale attack against NATO during war games held in September, according to claims by Riho Terras, the commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, The Independent reported.
The strategic military exercise held in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and its Kaliningrad last year simulated a conflict scenario that played out attacks with the U.S.-led alliance.
There has been concern surrounding the Zapad, a joint military operation between Russian and Belarussian armies that tests military strategy and readiness through war simulations along Russia's northwestern border with Europe, which is a NATO territory, DW News reported.
NATO has expressed uneasiness towards the Zapad but the Russian defense ministry has insisted that the event was strictly defensive and served to test the response to an attack from militants, The Express said.
Terras' claims reaffirm NATO's fears.
"Let me be clear: with the exercise Zapad 2017, Russia simulated a large-scale military attack against NATO," he said, according to The Express. "It was not targeted towards the Baltic states only, as it was a theatre-wide series of exercises spanning from high North to the Black Sea. The scale and extent of the entire exercise was far greater than officially stated."
Two analysts from a western intelligence service allegedly confirmed that Zapad was used to simulate a "full-scale conventional war against NATO in Europe," The Daily Mail noted.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait said at her annual speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the time that the "Kremlin is rehearsing aggressive scenarios against its neighbors, training its army to attack the West," The Express reported.
"The exercise is also part of information warfare aimed at spreading uncertainty and fear."
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said at the time, "The number of troops participating in the exercises significantly exceeded the number announced before the exercise – the scenario was a different one and the geographical scope was larger than previously announced," according to The Daily Mail.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.