NATO launches TUMAK 24 military exercise in Poland, 70 km from the Russian border

NATO military exercises TUMAK-24 have started in Poland, they are held 70 km from the border with Russia. This was reported by Polish agency PAP on November 29.

The training is conducted by the 16th Mechanized Division of the Polish Army and allied NATO forces, it involves about 2.5 thousand soldiers and uses 800 pieces of military equipment. The main element of the exercise is the crossing of Lake Kempno by tanks at the Ozysz training ground. Mechanized, artillery and aviation units are involved in this exercise.

Major Magdalena Kostińska, a spokeswoman for the 16th Mechanized Division, told the agency that such exercises are needed to test the military's ability to quickly cross water obstacles.

"This is an extremely important element because the territory of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is rich in lakes. Bypassing water obstacles requires time, which is invaluable in crisis situations, so the best solution is to wade across the lake," Kostińska noted.

During the training, reconnaissance units first captured a training bridgehead and provided the rest of the troops with a place to land, and then mechanized units crossed the lake. Heavy equipment was transported on pontoon units.

The exercise will conclude on December 2.

The day before, on November 28, ERR TV reported that NATO countries are planning to hold military exercises "Lightning" (Picne) in Estonia on December 2-15. They include the arrival of allied ships, air operations and expansion of the alliance's presence in the northeast of the Baltic republic.

Before that, on October 28, military expert, retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said that the November North Atlantic Alliance's Lightning Strike 24 exercises in Finland are being conducted by NATO as part of its campaign to develop the Arctic theater of operations, and in the future the bloc hopes to push Russia out of the region. Such NATO maneuvers, as the retired military officer noted, demonstrate the alliance's preparation for an armed conflict.

On October 23, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry Andrei Belousov pointed out that NATO states held a series of exercises in 2024, which became the largest since the end of the Cold War. During these drills, the bloc's military practiced potential scenarios of a large-scale conflict with Russia. The minister added that the alliance was also expanding its combat training and intelligence activities.