Russia’s Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu has confirmed that the military exercises Zapad-2023 will not be happening this year, as reported by Russian media.
British military intelligence reported on the 28th of August that Russia may have cancelled the military exercises that were planned for September because of the shortage of equipment and because it’s quality is dubious, as evidenced from the battlefield.
The last time large-scale military exercises were held in the western parts of the country was 2021. It was the biggest military exercise in Russia since the collapse of the USSR.
It was planned to hold exercises in western territories in two years.
The low efficiency of Russian troops in Ukraine shows that strategic military exercises had a low effect on training and that the event was organised to show off more than anything else, British intelligence claims.
The Russian government was worried there would be a negative backlash from residents about new military exercises during a war, British experts claim.
According to Russian Ministry of Defence, 200 000 troops, 760 units of war machines and 15 ships took part in Russian-Belarusian joint military exercises Zapad-2021.
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