Defence come together as Russia all set to hold its biggest war games next month

Moscow, August 28: Intending to recreate the past military exercise in the country, Russia will hold its biggest military exercises since 1981 next month. Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the country has decided to hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades.

 

Defence Minister Shoigu was quoted as saying that the drills, called Vostok-2018, will take place in Russia's central and eastern military districts and will involve almost 300,000 troops, more than 1,000 aircraft, both the Pacific and Northern Fleets, and all Russian airborne units. The announcement comes as relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low over issues including Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe.

The September 2017 war games in Belarus and parts of western Russia, dubbed Zapad 2017, triggered concerns in neighboring NATO nations already wary of Moscow's intentions after its illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and military interference in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.

Moscow and Minsk said the joint maneuvers involved some 12,700 troops in the two countries combined, but Western officials have said the true number may have been around 100,000.