Russia and Belarus are conducting military exercises - this joint training operation for NATO is painfully reminiscent of the Achilles' heel on the eastern borders of the alliance. And this despite the fact that the claimed 13 thousand. participants in the exercise do not constitute a real threat, according to an article on the site Stern.

"Since the beginning of the crisis around the Crimea and Ukraine, NATO has become accustomed to military games of Russia at its borders," says the author of the publication Gernot Crumper. This time, Belarus is played out by the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

The exercises "West-2017", the journalist continues, are not even on the territory of the Russian Federation, but much more to the west - on the territory of Belarus. If the matter takes a serious turn, the exercises will pose a threat to the so-called Suwalki Corridor - a thin strip of land between Estonia and Poland (the corridor connects the Kaliningrad region with Belarus. - Prim. red. "Experts proceed from the fact that in case of which the Suwalki corridor can not be held," the author writes.

"Most of the military provides training for Belarus," reads the article. - Russian servicemen 5 thousand. , and this inspires little fear. However, according to rumors, which wrote The New York Times, more than 100 thousand.

man - that would be a really impressive and dangerous demonstration of strength ".

"But more real than all fantasies about the number of participants, there is a fear that once the cooperation between Moscow and Minsk can turn into Russia's permanent presence on the territory of Belarus. And then Moscow can move closer to the West its missile defense systems, Iskander missiles and tanks. Kaliningrad in this case will cease to be cut off Russian outpost, "reads the article.