Sept. 15 (UPI) — The Russian military put on a show of force Monday in a training exercise intended to prepare for a future war with Western countries.

The exercises included about 7,000 troops in locations in Belarus, a neighboring country aligned with the Kremlin, as well as in Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave, which is sandwiched between NATO-members Poland and Lithuania, according to reports from western media invited to witness the event.

The Zapad military drills are meant to simulate an attack by Western countries. Zapad, which means “West” in Russian, are normally routine drills and were last held in 2021, just before Russia invaded Ukraine.

The most recent drills took place amid heightened worries the conflict will spill into neighboring countries and comes weeks after Polish forces and their NATO allies shot down a large number of drones that had entered the country’s airspace.

The drills included a mock battle at the Borisovsky Training Ground in central Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian aircrafts, tanks and artillery opened fire on imagined Western forces, reported ABC News. Two Su-34 jets dropped large bombs and tanks fired across a field as Russian and Belarusian forces simulated retaking a village, the news outlet reported.

Western media were invited to observe the event as part of a recent thaw in relations with Belarus, which included the release of 52 political prisoners, some from western Europe.

Two unnamed U.S. military officials made a surprise visit to observe the drills, reported the Guardian.

“The best viewing seats will be provided for you,” the Belarusian defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, told them.

Belarusian Minister of Defense Viktor Khrenin said in a Telegram post that the exercise was held farther away from it western border and they were trying to reduce tensions with eastern Europe.

However, Poland responded by deploying up to 40,000 troops along its border with Belarus and NATO has stepped up jet patrols against more Russian drone incursions, reported the Guardian.