Vladimir Putin watched a huge display of firepower put on by his military on Monday when he attended the finale of what is believed to be the largest Russian war games held in Europe since the Cold War.
Kremlin via Reuters
Putin on Monday attended what amounted to a heavily scripted, grand finale to the drills which took place at a firing range near Nizhny Novgorod, a city about 300 miles from Moscow.From a grandstand overlooking the Mulino range, Putin watched the event through a pair of binoculars, while heavily armed snipers kept guard.
Since Lukashenko sought rescue from the Kremlin, there have been concerns that Putin will use that leverage to demand he fulfill a long-time Russian goal of integrating Belarus with Russia. Last week, as the exercises began, Putin and Lukashenko announced plans for significantly deeper economic integration, under the slogan"Two countries, one economy."
The exercise's imagined scenario simulated Russia helping Belarus to defend against an attack by three fictional states,"Nyaris,""Pomoria" and the"Polar Republic" -- thinly disguised versions of Lithuania, Poland and a Scandinavian country.