In military uniform — Putin spotted at ‘Zapad-2025’ exercises

Military exercises ‘Zapad-2025’ were held in Belarus together with Russia. On the final day, September 16, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was seen in military uniform at one of the training grounds.

Reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Putin at the ‘Zapad-2025’ exercises

On the last day of the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises, September 16, Putin, alongside Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belyayev, Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and Presidential Aide Alexey Dyumin, visited the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region. They inspected the troops participating in the ‘Zapad-2025’ exercises.

According to Belyayev, the exercises involved personnel from the Leningrad and Moscow military districts, the Russian Aerospace Forces, Airborne Troops, the Northern and Baltic Fleets, as well as Belarusian units forming part of the Joint Regional Grouping of Forces of the Union State.

At the same time, Putin stated that 100,000 servicemen participated in the exercises, including soldiers from six additional countries: Bangladesh, India, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Iran. The Russian dictator met with these troops.

The ISW noted that on September 9, India announced the deployment of 65 troops to the Mulino training ground to participate in the ‘Zapad-2025’ exercises, aiming to strengthen military cooperation and share combat tactics with Russia and Belarus. This marks India’s second participation in the joint exercises, following the involvement of 200 Indian servicemen in counterterrorism operations during the ‘Zapad-2021’ Russian-Belarusian exercises in September 2021.

"Putin notably wore a military uniform to observe the exercises – the second time Putin has worn a military uniform at a public event since the beginning of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Putin first wore a military uniform during the full-scale invasion while visiting Kursk Oblast in March 2025, and ISW assessed at that time that Putin was likely trying to portray himself as an engaged wartime leader and to share the credit for Russian forces retaking territory in Kursk Oblast," the report states.

Analysts also emphasized that the Russian dictator appeared in military uniform at the exercises on September 16 to "posture Russian-Belarusian military strength against the backdrop of recent Kremlin kinetic and rhetorical escalation against NATO states neighboring Russia," such as Poland and Norway, and repeated Russian threats against the Baltic states and Finland.

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