Week In Review: Drills, Denials, And More...

Orda.kz has put together a brief synopsis of last week's news. This edition focuses on Belarus.

Side note: the Week In Review team will be taking an extended hiatus after this edition.

Statkevich’s Release and Return to Prison

Belarusian opposition leader Nikolai Statkevich, 69, was released on September 11 as part of a U.S.-brokered deal that freed 52 political prisoners.

However, Statkevich defied the arrangement, insisting he would remain in Belarus and not depart for Lithuania. His decision led to his return to a prison colony in Hlybokaye, where he had already endured over two years of strict isolation since his 2021 sentencing for “organizing mass unrest.”

President Alexander Lukashenko later confirmed the reincarceration:

He went there, apparently into the neutral zone, crossed over to the Lithuanians. They asked him: ‘Do you want to go back to Belarus? You’ll end up in prison…’ [Statkevich replied]: ‘I’ll go to prison.’ Well, fine. (…) They took him back. We couldn’t just leave him there. After all, he’s our guy. Or rather, our citizen. They brought him back to Belarus. Why offend him?! But if he wants to be a leader in burning cars and police houses, then let him stay there [in prison]. If he wants to arrange his old age somehow and live it out like a human being <…> well, enough — he’s fought his battles a bit, that’s another story. One has to approach this humanely

Family members say they have been denied official confirmation of his whereabouts, with his wife filing a missing persons report.

Further Pardons Ahead of Unity Day

Lukashenko later announced the pardon of 25 prisoners convicted of “extremist crimes” ahead of Belarus’s Unity Day holiday. Officials emphasized that all had admitted guilt and expressed remorse. The gesture followed the above release.

The U.S. subsequently lifted sanctions on Belarus’s national airline, Belavia.

Lukashenko publicly thanked former U.S. President Donald Trump for “peace efforts” and hinted at the possibility of a broader “global deal” with Washington. The Belarusian president has previously made similar pardons, one going back as far as January.

Zapad-2025 Military Exercises

From September 12–16, Belarus hosted Zapad-2025, a joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise. The drills included nuclear weapons planning scenarios and testing of the “Oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missile.

Notably, foreign military observers, including representatives from 23 countries — notably NATO members Türkiye, Hungary, and the United States — attended. The U.S. defense attaché was given front-row access, a move that Belarusian officials highlighted as a sign of transparency.

The exercises also involved contingents from CSTO, SCO, and other partner states.

Against that backdrop, Poland had announced it would deploy 40,000 troops to its eastern border and close crossing points. Meanwhile, Estonia claimed three Russian MiG-31s violated its airspace near Vaindloo Island on Sept. 19, while Russia denied the incursion.

And, on September 20, during a massive Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine, Poland again scrambled its own and allied fighter jets. Ground-based air defense and radar systems were placed on high alert to prevent any cross-border spillover. The strike, according to Ukraine’s Air Force, involved 579 Shahed drones, 8 Iskander ballistic missiles, and 32 Kh-101 cruise missiles.

This was the second such response in September, following a similar scramble on the 13th, after drones crossed into Polish territory during strikes on western Ukraine. Warsaw has since appealed to NATO allies for additional air defense systems and counter-drone technologies.