No provocations or threats: Russian troops leave Belarus after Zapad-2025 drills

Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, reported this at a briefing at Ukrinform.

“Fortunately, during the active phase of the drills, no activity or provocations were observed in the direction of the Ukrainian border. The training sites were located deep within Belarusian territory,” he said.

According to Demchenko, the Ukrainian side was prepared for various scenarios, including potential informational or military provocations. However, no actions directly threatening Ukraine were detected.

The spokesperson also noted that after the drills concluded, Russian units began winding down their presence in Belarus and preparing to return to Russia.

“We hope they will indeed depart toward Russia and not create additional threats to Ukraine,” he added.

He stressed that the number of Russian forces involved in this year’s military exercises was significantly smaller than last year. For comparison, in 2023 up to 12,000 Russian troops were stationed in Belarus for training, whereas this year’s scale was far more modest.

At the same time, Demchenko assured that Ukraine’s intelligence and border service continue to closely monitor the situation in Belarus, particularly the movement of Russian troops, since this section of the border remains potentially dangerous.

“This sector will remain risky as long as Belarus continues to support the terrorist state,” he emphasized.

As reported by Ukrinform, no activity has been observed toward the Ukrainian border during the joint Russia-Belarus Zapad-2025 military drills in Belarus.