Switzerland went through with planned military drills involving 4,000 troops in the biggest exercises in more than 30 years. The war in Ukraine added extra relevancy for the neutral country to test its military capacity.
The drills were located in four Swiss cantons and lasted nine days. They involved fighting against an enemy, tossing grenades, and firing live ammunitions. Many of the infantry troops were civilians taking part in their mandatory military service.
The Alpine country announced the LUX 23 drills in 2021, so its organization was not due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, the war changed the “understanding of the population regarding this kind of drill,” according to commander of Switzerland’s Territorial Division 1 Mathias Tuscher.
Switzerland has a long tradition of neutrality, and it is not part of NATO. International pressure has been increasing on the country to ban export of weapons to war zones and be more actively supporting Ukraine. Switzerland so far has adopted the same sanctions against Russia of the US and the European Union.
