Russia to hold biggest war games since Cold War
- 6 years ago
Russia will hold its biggest war games since the Cold War.
The military exercise is scheduled for next month and will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies.
For more on this and other news around we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram… what more do we know about these drills….
Well Mark… the war games are being called Vostok-2018, which translates to East-2018 and will be held in central and eastern Russia.
Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says it will involve almost 300,000 troops, tens of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, more than a thousand military aircraft and two of Russia's naval fleets.
The five-day exercise, starting September 11th, will be Moscow's biggest military maneuver since a Cold War drill in 1981.
It comes at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West.
Moscow is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance on its western flank.
NATO says it has strengthened its forces in Eastern Europe to fend off potential Russian military action after Moscow's annexation of Crimea four years ago.
NATO said it would monitor the upcoming military exercise.
In regards to the participation of Chinese forces, a Kremlin spokesperson said it showed Beijing and Moscow were cooperating in all areas.
China's defense ministry said it was taking part to enhance military coordination with Russia, but said the drills would not target any third party.
Vostok-2018 will serve as a show of Russia's military muscle at a time when President Vladimir Putin is putting military modernization as a priority.
The military exercise is scheduled for next month and will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies.
For more on this and other news around we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram… what more do we know about these drills….
Well Mark… the war games are being called Vostok-2018, which translates to East-2018 and will be held in central and eastern Russia.
Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says it will involve almost 300,000 troops, tens of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, more than a thousand military aircraft and two of Russia's naval fleets.
The five-day exercise, starting September 11th, will be Moscow's biggest military maneuver since a Cold War drill in 1981.
It comes at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West.
Moscow is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance on its western flank.
NATO says it has strengthened its forces in Eastern Europe to fend off potential Russian military action after Moscow's annexation of Crimea four years ago.
NATO said it would monitor the upcoming military exercise.
In regards to the participation of Chinese forces, a Kremlin spokesperson said it showed Beijing and Moscow were cooperating in all areas.
China's defense ministry said it was taking part to enhance military coordination with Russia, but said the drills would not target any third party.
Vostok-2018 will serve as a show of Russia's military muscle at a time when President Vladimir Putin is putting military modernization as a priority.