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Poland Warns Citizens to Leave Belarus After Espionage Arrest During Zapad-2025 Drills
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Poland has urged its citizens to leave Belarus immediately and avoid traveling there, following the detention of a Polish national accused by Minsk of alleged espionage during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2025.
Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński delivered the warning at a briefing on Friday, September 5, citing RMF FM.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly advises against traveling to Belarus. Polish citizens may face developments there that will not be favorable to them. This is not a democratic country, nor is it a country friendly to the Republic of Poland,” Wroński said.
He confirmed that Poland will support the detained citizen, stressing that the arrest was politically motivated.
“We believe that one of the objectives of this move, which is clearly a provocation, is to destabilize the situation in Poland and to strengthen their image in Ukraine. We do not wish to participate in such theater,” the spokesperson added.
At the same time, Poland is reinforcing its own defense posture. The country has launched preparations for Iron Defender-25 (Żelazny Obrońca-25), one of the largest military exercises planned by the Polish Armed Forces in 2025. More than 30,000 troops from Poland and allied nations are expected to participate in drills spanning Orzysz, Ustka, Nowa Dęba, the Baltic Sea, as well as airspace and cyberspace.
The large-scale maneuvers will test a wide range of defense systems, including the integration of newly acquired Abrams tanks, K9 howitzers, Chunmoo rocket launchers, Rosomak armored vehicles, and M120 RAK mortars. A central objective will be the verification of the divisional-level joint fire control system JAGIC (Joint Air-Ground Integration Center), spearheaded by the 18th Mechanized Division.
Earlier, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan deployed forces to take part in the Collective Security Treaty Organization military exercises now taking place in Belarus.
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