NATO report: A 2013 Russian aerial exercise was actually a 'simulated nuclear attack' on Sweden

I didn't know anything about Zapad 2009 until you brought it up (so I don't know as much about it as you), but were they worried about Russia's forces totally collapsing, or just being incapable of protecting Belarus during C2W?

The best summary I found was Jamestown's writeup. Dunno what else you've read.

A more plausible rationale [/u/subpoutine: than Medvedev's "purely defensive" explanation] was offered by Lieutenant-General Sergey Skokov, the Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Ground Forces, who noted that the country faces "potential threats" from three strategic directions: the west, east and south. They each represent distinct type of threats ranging from facing a mass conventional force on its eastern border to combating insurgents or terrorism from the south, to facing a highly technologically advanced "enemy" from the west. In describing the type of threat Russian might face on its western flank, he essentially described network centric warfare which is the hallmark of United States and NATO operations. The enemy would not advance along a traditional frontline, but attempt to outflank Russian forces in order to minimize its losses, capitalizing on an information advantage, which Skokov observed was the pattern followed by U.S. armed forces in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Nonetheless, given the technology lag between Russian and western militaries, it is unlikely that Skokov or any other Russian general believes that their armed forces can currently conduct non-contact warfare. Skokov used the experience of Russian forces in recent exercises to suggest that they must prioritize the development of "mobile forces".

/r/worldnews Thread Parent Link - finance.yahoo.com