Large-scale NATO exercises Dragon 24 began in Poland with the participation of about 20 thousand military personnel from ten member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.

3.5 thousand units of equipment will be involved in the exercises.

The maneuvers will last until March 14, 2024.

On February 25, a message was posted on the Polish Army General Staff page on the social network X (formerly Twitter) asking citizens not to film troop movements or share this data.

The republic's media and regional authorities also called on the population not to publish information about the participants in the maneuvers and not to interfere with the movement of military columns.

The day before the launch of Dragon 24, the General Staff of the Polish Army posted a photo of a joint training session between Polish and American military personnel.

The caption talked about the importance of interoperability among NATO troops.

The Polish military department claims that Dragon 24 are planned and defensive in nature and are not directed against any country.

At the same time, they emphasize that the current exercises are a demonstration of the ability to counteract Moscow’s “aggressive” policies and provocations. 

The legend of Dragon 24 is not disclosed, but at the official level it was reported that during Dragon 24 the crossing of the Vistula will be worked out.

This event is scheduled for March 5 and will be open to the media.

According to the Polish Ministry of Defense, Dragon 24 will involve elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Division, Army Special Forces, Air Force, Navy, Territorial Defense and alliance allied units, “including the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group.”

“Exercise Dragon 24 (DR24) will test the ability of the Polish Armed Forces to respond to a possible complex military crisis, thereby contributing to strengthening the alliance's deterrence and defense capabilities and demonstrating the strength and resolve that comes from unity (NATO. -

RT

) “- says the website of the military department of the republic.

"All over Europe"

The maneuvers in Poland are part of NATO's largest exercise since 1988, called Steadfast Defender 2024 (STDE24).

These maneuvers began in January and are expected to last until May 31.

About 90 thousand military personnel from more than 30 NATO countries and Sweden, which is not yet a member of the alliance, will be involved in them.

According to the US Department of Defense, more than 50 ships, 80 airplanes, helicopters and UAVs and over 1.1 thousand armored vehicles will be involved in the exercises.

STDE24 will take place in two stages: at the first, logistics activities will be carried out in the Atlantic and Arctic, at the second, it is planned to deploy military groups from the Arctic “to the eastern flank” of NATO.

  • Participants in Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024

  • © David Inderlied/picture alliance via Getty Images

Shortly before the start of STDE24, NATO Commander-in-Chief Christopher Cavoli said that the exercise would focus on moving American troops to Europe.

“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic territories through the transatlantic transfer of forces from North America.

Such an increase will take place during the simulation of a scenario of an escalating conflict with an enemy of approximately equal strength,” Kaoli said.

According to the NATO military leader, Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a “clear demonstration” of the unity, strength and determination of the Western bloc countries to “defend each other, our values ​​and the rules-based international order.”

As the Polish Ministry of Defense previously reported, the territory of the republic will become a springboard for the deployment of a significant number of NATO groups.

According to the Polish military department, an extensive network of training, combat and command structures of the alliance has already been created in the country.

In particular, the North-East multinational corps operates in Szczecin, and the NATO Joint Forces Training Center (JFTC) and the Military Police Expert Center are located in Bydgoszcz.

In addition, an aviation unit, a tank brigade and a forward command of the US Army Corps are stationed in Poland.

According to the Financial Times, STDE24 simulates a large-scale conflict with an enemy on NATO's eastern flank.

The exercises are necessary so that the Joint Alliance Support and Sustainment Command, located in Ulm, Germany, develops a plan for deploying and strengthening groups in Europe in the event of a real military clash.

  • American paratroopers in Poland

  • © AP Photo/Nathan Posner

Moreover, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, directly told the FT that STDE24 is aimed at preparing for war with Russia.

At the same time, one of the senior representatives of the US Department of Defense, in a conversation with the publication, expressed doubt that Moscow is capable of attacking the alliance.

"Playing with fire"

Moscow has repeatedly denied the existence of plans to attack NATO countries and expressed concern about the maneuvers that the alliance is conducting near Russian borders.

Thus, at the end of January, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Western bloc does not even hide “to spite who they are conducting these exercises.”

As Peskov noted, Steadfast Defender 2024 pose a threat to the security of Russia.

“This is a threat to us, that’s how we treat it.

And appropriate measures for this are constantly being taken - especially against the backdrop of how the alliance has been continuously moving its military infrastructure towards our borders for several decades,” the Kremlin representative noted.

In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that with the help of Steadfast Defender 2024, “Western politicians and their mediocre generals in NATO have once again decided to scare us.”

He noted that some stages of the exercises will take place “in the most notoriously Russophobic and most disgusting states like Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.”

“Overall, this is a very dangerous game with fire.

Significant forces have been assembled.

And exercises of this scale have not been carried out since the last century... We are not going to attack any country in this bloc.

All reasonable people in the West understand this.

But if they play too hard and encroach on the integrity of our country, they will instantly receive an adequate response,” Medvedev wrote on his VKontakte page in early February.

As RISI expert Sergei Ermakov stated in a commentary to RT, Steadfast Defender 2024 is aimed at developing comprehensive measures to counter the Russian Armed Forces. 

“It’s probably even good that there are military leaders in NATO who speak directly, without guile, about the real plan.

The West is preparing for a confrontation with Russia—now there is no doubt about it.

Therefore, at Steadfast Defender 2024, first of all, the transfer and deployment of a large number of troops, offensive actions like crossing the Vistula are practiced,” Ermakov said.

  • Training of Polish and American soldiers

  • © Sztab Generalny WP

According to him, the Dragon 24 maneuvers are actually the Polish stage of Steadfast Defender 2024 and are important in the context of preparations for war with Russia.

“Under the guise of large-scale NATO exercises, strike groups are always created.

During Dragon 24 they will be formed near our borders.

This is an element of military-political pressure on Russia, an attempt to demonstrate strength to us, to demonstrate how they can deliver the first blow to our country.

Naturally, Moscow will analyze such actions and develop response measures,” Ermakov explained.

In a conversation with RT, reserve lieutenant colonel and combat veteran Oleg Shalandin suggested that the main objectives of the exercises in Poland are confrontation with the Belarusian armed forces, the transfer of additional troops to the Baltic states and the subsequent blockade of the Kaliningrad region.

“Russia’s concerns are completely justified.

Dragon 24 are important in the context of developing NATO plans to stop the actions of Belarusian troops allied with Russia and strengthening contingents in the Baltic states.

For us, this means the danger of a complete blockade of the Kaliningrad region.

If we talk about the Steadfast Defender 2024 plan in general, then they are aimed at blocking the Northern Sea Route and practicing the deployment of strike groups on the so-called eastern flank of the bloc,” Shalandin explained.

According to the expert, Russia will not leave Steadfast Defender 2024 without a reaction. In his opinion, Moscow will take “commensurate retaliatory measures” in the form of concentrating troops and organizing exercises with a “pronounced offensive character.”  

“The danger of any exercises is that they are accompanied by the secret deployment of troops.

In relation to NATO, this is always a potential threat of attack and blockade.

However, such actions are stopped by retaliatory maneuvers so that the enemy realizes the inevitability of an adequate response,” Shalandin concluded.