Poland shuts all border crossings with Belarus ahead of Russian-Belarusian military drills

Poland shut all border crossings with Belarus on the night of September 11. According to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA, Polish border guards rolled out barbed wire and set up metal barriers at the checkpoints.

Previously, two crossings had remained open: Brest, for passenger traffic, and Kozlovichi, for cargo.

Warsaw moved to close the border ahead of joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises, Zapad-2025, scheduled in Belarus from September 12 to 16.

No end date for the closure has been set, though Poland’s Interior Ministry said it does not plan to keep the border shut “a day longer than necessary.”

Polish authorities announced the decision on September 9. A day later, about 20 Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace. In response, Poland and its NATO allies scrambled fighter jets and shot down several drones — the first time Russian UAVs had been downed over NATO territory.

Following the drone incident, Latvia said it would close its airspace along the border with Russia and Belarus for at least a week, from September 11 to 18.