Russia’s Zapad 17 large-scale exercise, staged in September 2017 in
cooperation with Belarus, as part of their combined operational grouping
of forces, attracted unprecedented attention in the West. Widespread
interest in Zapad 17 reflected a deepening concern even before its conduct
that the exercise’s actual purpose and scale did not correspond to the
troop size and objective announced by Russia, namely 12,700 Russian
and Belarussian troops involved in fighting a postulated terrorist threat.
Instead, by all accounts, Zapad 17 was much larger in scale than notified
by Russia (60,000-70,000 troops versus 12,700) and oriented to fighting
and defeating a capable adversary.1 Zapad 17 was only the latest Russian
exercise to generate similar concerns.
Topic:
Imperialism, Terrorism, Military Strategy, and Conflict