"Today we are conducting the final stage of the Zapad 2025 strategic exercises," said Putin, wearing a military uniform, adding:"100,000 soldiers are participating."

On Tuesday, Russian state media, citing the Kremlin, reported that India, Iran and other Moscow allies in Asia and Africa were also participating in the Zapad military exercises between Russia and Belarus.

"The coalition forces consist of special forces groups and military contingents of the armed forces of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Kremlin's state agency TASS quoted him as saying.

Soldiers from Burkina Faso, Congo and Mali also participated in the exercise, the statement added.

Russia and Belarus trained to deploy new Oreshnik missiles

During the large-scale Zapad 2025 maneuvers, Russia and Belarus practiced planning the deployment of new Russian medium-range Oreshnik missiles, Belarusian Chief of the General Staff Pavel Muraviyka said on Tuesday.

All tasks of the Zapad 2025 exercises have been completed, the state news agency BelTA quoted Mr. Muraviek as saying on the officially announced last day of the military exercises.

"Planning and testing the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons and the testing and deployment of the Orešnik mobile missile complexes are among the important events," said Mr. Muraveika, but did not provide further details.

Russia has moved tactical nuclear weapons to its neighbor and close ally Belarus, whose leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is seeking to deploy intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in the country.

Given the growing hostility between Russia and the West, regular large-scale maneuvers are worrying NATO allies, especially immediate neighbors Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Due to the Zapad 2025 exercises, Poland has closed its border with Belarus and intends to keep it closed after the end of the maneuvers.

"We will resume traffic as soon as the border is completely secure and this is confirmed by information provided by the authorities," an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said in Warsaw.

Concerns about the military exercises were heightened last week when a large number of Russian drones entered Polish airspace just before they were due to begin. NATO does not view the incident as an attack, but rather as a provocation by Moscow and a test of the alliance's defence capabilities on its eastern flank.