The Belarusian maneuvers began a day after Russia announced plans to hold similar drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons in what it cast as a response to statements by Western officials signaling possibly deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine. It was the first time such an exercise had been publicly announced by Moscow.

Ukraine announced it had detained two Ukrainian security officials who they claim were involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.