The war games are set to begin against a backdrop of dramatically heightened regional tensions, coming just two days after at least nineteen Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace. Polish and other NATO jets reportedly shot down a number of Russian drones in the skies above Poland early on September 10. The “Zapad” military exercises, meaning “West” in Russian, are large-scale drills that have been jointly organized for a number of years by Russia and Belarus. Almost 300 Belarusian state enterprises are also reportedly involved in the production of weapons or munitions for the Russian military. Hosting Russian troops, supplying Putin’s war machine, and supporting the invasion of Ukraine are all part of this bargain.