The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the air defense units conducted exercises in the Moscow region that it said simulated attacks on military, industrial and administrative facilities, at a time when Ukraine announced similar exercises simulating repelling a Russian attack on the capital, Kyiv.
The ministry added that members of the Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Western Military District conducted exercises simulating repelling enemy attacks, using the S-300 air defense system and electronic missiles intended for training.
The ministry said that the exercises simulated the process of identifying, monitoring and shooting down air targets similar to aircraft and ballistic missiles, noting that more than 150 soldiers and 30 units of special military vehicles and equipment participated in the exercises.
In contrast, Ukrainian forces conducted exercises in the Kyiv region simulating countering a Russian airborne attack, as well as destroying assault forces in urban areas.
And the commander of the Ukrainian army, General Serhiy Nayev, stated that a joint exercise would be conducted in the Chernobyl region, in order to protect an important government target in the critical infrastructure system.
Nayef explained that the unit commanders had accomplished a task related to preventing the seizure of a target, which he described as important.
Units from the National Guard, Border Guard, Security Service and National Police participated in the exercise.
Baltic states
Meanwhile, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) called on Germany to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine immediately, holding Berlin in this regard a special responsibility as a leading European power.
And the foreign ministers of the Baltic states urged Berlin - on Saturday morning - to "immediately provide Ukraine with Leopard tanks," considering that Germany, "as the major power in Europe, bears a special responsibility in this regard."
Ukraine's allies had failed to agree to hand over heavy tanks, during their meeting on Friday at Ramstein base in Germany.
The dispute focused mainly on the supply of German-made Leopard 2 combat tanks to Kyiv. The German defense minister denied Berlin's opposition to transferring this type of tank to Ukraine, but said that his country was ready to move quickly if a consensus was reached between the allies.
Leopard tank
Today, Saturday, Ukraine expressed regret for the "general hesitation" on the part of its Western allies, who refused the day before to provide it with heavy tanks, a decision that "leads to the killing of more of our citizens," according to Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak.
This dispute prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to say that there is no alternative to providing modern tanks to Ukraine to enhance the army's resilience and achieve progress on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian-speaking "Voice of America" station quoted Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov as saying that Ukrainian forces will train on German tanks in Poland.
Reznikov said that although the allies did not reach an agreement to supply Kyiv with those tanks, training on tanks is a creditable achievement for Poland.
Zaporizhia axis
On the ground, the southern and eastern provinces of Ukraine are witnessing fierce battles and mutual shelling between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, and the Russian and Ukrainian accounts are conflicting about the battles in the Zaporizhia axis.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had launched attacks in the Zaporozhye canton axis and took control of important lines and sites.
The pro-Russian authorities in the province said that the Russian army managed to destroy the first line of defense of the Ukrainian army in the Zaporizhia axis.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian side denied the Russian version, and a spokesman for the Ukrainian forces told Al-Jazeera that their forces control all of their positions, and the Ukrainian army indicated that the Russian bombardment continued on more than 20 areas in Zaporizhia.