2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. A century on, Moscow has a rather different view of revolutionaries, as shown by the Zapad 2017 military exercise held on 14–20 September 2017. Zapad (West) is one of several military exercises that Russia regularly holds; others include Kavkaz (Caucasus), Tsentr (Centre) and Vostok (East). However, Zapad 2017 carried special strategic significance. The exercise was conducted in Belarus, which, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, was under threat from ‘extremist groups’ that were ‘receiving logistics assistance and military hardware by air- and sealift’ from outside parties; the scenario involved Russia coming …read more
The-wider-implications-of-Zapad-2017
