Polish military officials and Western intelligence reports have described Russian training activity in Kaliningrad.
The exercises have included naval aviation drills, ballistic missile training, mobilization readiness tests, and participation in the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 exercises.
Poland has responded with troop deployments, equipment moves, and public statements.
Baltic Fleet Aviation Exercises, June 2026
In June 2026, the Russian Baltic Fleet began scheduled maneuvers in the Kaliningrad Region. The exercise involved more than 10 fighter jets and bombers, including Su-24M tactical frontline bombers and Su-30SM2 multirole fighter jets from a composite naval aviation regiment. About 100 flight and ground personnel took part. The crews trained to destroy convoys of a potential enemy’s military equipment, command posts, amassed manpower, military-industrial installations, and warships. They also practiced providing fire support to Baltic Fleet land forces. The exercise called for strikes on more than 50 targets using aircraft rockets and bombing runs. Russia’s stated aim was to refine pilots’ flight skills, practice interoperability, and rely on experience gained in the “special military operation.”
Su-30SM2 Precision Strike Exercises, July–August 2026
Russia deployed ten Su-30SM2 long-range fighters from the Baltic Fleet’s Naval Aviation for precision strike exercises in the Kaliningrad Region. The simulated targets included enemy command posts, fortified positions, and concentrations of armored vehicles. The aircraft used P-50T practice bombs, which replicate operational ordnance with reduced explosive charges, as well as S-8 unguided rockets and 30 mm GSh-30-1 automatic cannon. The exercise phases included aerial reconnaissance, bombing runs, and attacks on simulated armored columns. The Su-30SM2 is the longest-ranged fighter type in Europe outside mainland Russia and began deliveries in early 2022. On August 7, 2026, TASS reported that Su-30SM2 crews carried out missile and bomb strikes during an exercise near Kaliningrad. On September 15, 2026, crews conducted live-fire precision-targeting exercises at a target range in the eastern part of the Kaliningrad Region.
Iskander Ballistic Missile Training, July 2026
Russian forces conducted shootings and missile launches of the Iskander ballistic missile system in the Kaliningrad region in July 2026. About 500 servicemen took part. Up to 30 pieces of equipment were involved, and an additional 100 soldiers participated in missile training on 20 units of military and special equipment. More than half of the combat trainings were carried out in the dark, using night sights, night vision devices, and lighting rockets. The troops practiced strikes on missile launchers, airfields, protected facilities, concentrations of military equipment, and command posts of a hypothetical enemy. They also trained for actions under radiation and chemical contamination and for repelling attacks by sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
Mobilization Readiness Drills, July 2026
Citing unnamed Western intelligence officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that Russian officers conducted an exercise in Kaliningrad focused on mobilization protocols. The officers arrived from Saint Petersburg. The exercise simulated billeting, rationing, and arming of regional residents in the event of an activation order. Similar preparatory exercises were underway across other Russian regions. Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, rejected claims of a planned mobilization, stating that no mobilization is planned.
Zapad-2025 Joint Exercises, September 2025
As part of the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 drills, the Russian Baltic Fleet conducted exercises in the Kaliningrad region. Marine Corps units trained to counter the landing of a “hypothetical enemy” on the coast. They used small arms and BTR-82A armored personnel carriers. The Berezhok combat missile-artillery system was used to destroy a simulated enemy naval drone. T-72B3 tanks from the Leningrad Military District practiced precise fire from concealed positions, targeting rear areas and fortified strongholds up to eight kilometers away. In one scenario, a tank was simulated as destroyed by a TM-62 anti-tank mine, then evacuated and repaired in the field by a BREM-1 armored repair and recovery vehicle. The exercise commenced on September 12, 2025, as the final phase of joint training. Footage published on September 14 purportedly showed a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile system deployed in Kaliningrad Oblast as part of Zapad-2025.
Polish Military Response and Statements
On September 11, 2025, Poland announced the deployment of approximately 40,000 troops along its borders with Belarus and Russia. Polish authorities noted that one of the goals of the Zapad-2025 exercises was to practice a potential attack on the Suwałki Corridor, a narrow strip of territory between Belarus and Kaliningrad that connects Poland and Lithuania. Poland also announced the arrival of 28 South Korean-made K2 tanks to be deployed near the border with the Kaliningrad region to reinforce the 16th Mechanized Division. Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski suggested that NATO could hold drills in proximity to the Kaliningrad exclave. He argued that such exercises could force Russia to draw forces away from Ukraine.
The exercises and Poland’s response have taken place amid heightened military activity in the Baltic region.
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