Putin Visits Zapad-2025 in Uniform as Drone Strike Hits Kharkiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Zapad-2025 military exercises on Tuesday wearing military fatigues, while Ukrainian officials reported a drone strike on a residential area of Kharkiv that injured four people and damaged civilian buildings.

The prosecutor’s office in Kharkiv said a drone hit a residential district and struck at least one educational facility. A video circulated on social media showed a missile spiraling through the air before hitting a building and engulfing it in flames. Aerial footage released by local authorities showed a property missing most of its roof as firefighters inspected the scene.

Putin, 72, toured training areas associated with the Zapad drills and thanked foreign observers and delegations for taking part. "I would like to thank you for your participation," he said, according to remarks released by Russian officials. State-aligned briefings and Russian commentary described the exercises as a defensive response to a hypothetical western invasion.

Russian authorities provided extensive figures for the exercise, saying about 100,000 personnel, roughly 10,000 pieces of equipment, some 333 aviation and transport aircraft and more than 247 surface ships, submarines and support vessels were involved. Kremlin statements also said 25 foreign delegations had arrived to observe or participate.

The visit came as western officials and analysts drew links between the Zapad drills and a recent series of drone incursions and airspace violations in eastern Europe. Over the past week, NATO and European allies reported multiple drone flights into Polish airspace, a suspected violation of Romanian airspace and a drone crash in Latvia. NATO scrambled jets to intercept a number of the aircraft, and Polish authorities said they had arrested two Belarusian nationals after a civilian drone flew over the presidential palace.

Former British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said the incursions and the exercises should be taken seriously by NATO. "I have no doubt that [President] Putin will keep going," he told the press, adding that a demonstrable willingness to shoot down drones and missiles over Ukraine or to establish a no-fly zone could change Russian calculations.

Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the timing of the incursions and large-scale drills was noteworthy. She said Russia has used Zapad-style exercises in the past to test scenarios and to send signals about its military intentions. "These drills are an opportunity for Russia to test different scenarios and to demonstrate to the West that they remain committed to their plans," she said.

Western capitals have responded by more tightly coordinating air defenses and bolstering forces on NATO's eastern flank. European allies have organised an "Eastern Sentry" mission to strengthen surveillance and rapid-response capabilities in the region, and some officials have urged more direct action against drone and missile strikes that cross into allied airspace.

Russian state media portrayed the drills as routine large-scale training and highlighted Moscow’s invitation to foreign observers. NATO and many Western officials, however, view the exercises and the recent airspace incidents as part of a broader pattern of pressure on neighbouring states and an indication of Moscow’s willingness to test allied resolve.

In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for stronger, tangible measures to protect Ukrainian civilians, including stricter measures to prevent or intercept attacks using drones and missiles. Polish and other regional ministers have echoed calls for NATO to take a firmer stance on incursions that endanger allied territory.

Putin’s public donning of uniform recalled a similar appearance in March 2025 that prompted social media debate, with some commentators questioning the authenticity of photographs and suggesting the use of a double. Russian officials did not address those claims this week, and the Kremlin has continued to present the exercises as a demonstration of military readiness.

The Zapad-2025 exercises are scheduled to run through mid-September. Officials in Kyiv and Western capitals said they would continue to monitor the drills and recent airspace incidents as part of assessments of regional security and alliance responses.