Russia Holds Snap Military Exercises, Deepening Neighbors' Alarm
By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced large-scale snap military exercises on land and in the Black and Caspian seas, increasing worries in Ukraine and other Western neighbors about Moscow's intentions.
The exercises, which began early on August 25, put thousands of troops on combat alert and followed weeks of increasing tension along Ukraine’s eastern borders and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Large-scale movements of military weaponry and equipment have been reported in Crimea and border crossings into mainland Ukraine were blocked briefly earlier this month after Russia said two security personnel had been killed during an alleged incident with a group of Ukrainian saboteurs. Kyiv called the Russian claims preposterous.
Russia is also scheduled to hold previously announced war games in southern regions called Kavkaz 2016, which will included thousands of personnel and hundreds of heavy weapons and other equipment.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that troops have been put on combat alert as part of the drills, which were taking place in military districts that encompass Crimea and Russian regions bordering Ukraine and regions bordering the three Baltic nations, all of which are NATO members.
The ministry said the drills will last until the end of the month and involve a variety of units, from paratroopers to Northern Fleet naval ships. It also said foreign military attaches posted in Moscow had been notified of the exercises after they began.
Like NATO and many countries, Russia regularly holds exercises to test its armed forces' capabilities. But some analysts say Moscow is increasingly using unannounced drills as a means to threaten neighbors or to clandestinely position equipment or personnel for future operations.
In March 2014, following the violent Kyiv street protests that drove the Russian-allied president from power, Moscow announced snap military drills in its southern and western military districts. In the weeks that followed, masked and armed camouflaged soldiers appeared suddenly around Crimea and the peninsula was ultimately annexed by Moscow.
The drills that began on August 25 caused alarm in neighboring Poland, also a NATO member, where Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz called an urgent briefing of military intelligence and other units including Operational Command, which oversees Poland’s air defenses.
With reporting by AP
War Of Words Over Ukraine ‘Combat’ Photo
It could be one of the greatest war photographs ever taken – or a fake.
A controversy is escalating in Ukraine over a photo that seems to capture the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in a single frame. It shows two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade down a dirt road as an explosion rips up the ground behind them, sending smoke into the sky. An empty baby carriage stands near a blown-out building by the road.
But a group of Ukrainian photojournalists is crying foul over the photo by Dmytro Muravskiy, who works with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Read more of the fascinating story by RFE/RL's Amos Chapple here.
Russia Launches Large Snap Military Exercises
Russia says it has launched large-scale snap military drills on land and in the Black and Caspian seas.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on August 25 that the drills began at 7 a.m. Moscow time in Russia's southern, western, and central military districts where troops have been put on combat alert.
The drills are taking place in military districts that encompass the Crimean Peninsula and regions that border Ukraine and NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as territory spanning the Ural Mountains to central Siberia.
They will last until the end of the month, involving a variety of troops, from paratroopers to the Northern Fleet.
The exercises come a week after Russia for the first time since it began its military operation in Syria used an air base in Iran, and after President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attempts to carry out acts of sabotage in Crimea.
Eastern European countries have been worried about their security after Moscow forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014.