VIDEO The biggest exercise in 40 years: Russia and Belarus show military strength! NATO warns of crisis – Topky.sk

Tragedy during the exercise: Russian minister killed in life saving, fatal jump off a cliff!

The Chief of General Staff of the Belarusian Army and First Deputy Minister of Defense Viktor Gulevich said that the exercise aims to demonstrate the high readiness of the Russian and Belarusian armies for joint actions to ensure the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the federal state of Russia and Belarus. Gulevič assured that “this exercise does not endanger either the European Community as a whole or the specific neighboring countries”. He added that the joint strategic exercise West-2021 “has an exclusively defensive focus”. “We are improving soldier training and increasing our readiness to conduct combat missions,” summed up Gulevič.

According to Interfax, a total of about 200,000 people took part in the exercise. About 2,500 troops were sent from Russia and contingents from other countries arrived: about 500 troops from Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Observers were sent from China, Burma and Vietnam. More than 80 aircraft and helicopters, up to 760 pieces of combat equipment, including 290 tanks, 240 parts, rocket launchers and mortars, as well as 15 ships, are also taking part in the maneuvers.

The Russian Ministry of Defense clarified that the main practical part of the exercise takes place in several polygons in Russia – Kaliningrad, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod and Leningrad regions, as well as in the southern Baltic Sea and training grounds in the Brest region in Belarus.

Source: TASR / Vadim Savitskiy / Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Putin’s visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally visited the maneuvers of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces West-2021 in the Nizhny Novgorod region on Monday. The extensive military exercise, which has raised concerns about the North Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine, will last until Thursday. According to the TASS agency, the head of the Kremlin flew to the Mulino training ground by helicopter in the afternoon and watched the main phase of the maneuvers.

These take place in several places in Russia and Belarus, while some locations are close to the borders of NATO member states, Reuters reported. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Monday part of the exercise focused on launching a counter-offensive against enemy forces. For example, Russia’s Northern Fleet and the air force practiced repelling an attack near the border with Norway, Reuters reported.

Putin has previously stated that the exercise is not directed against any state. At the same time, he described the maneuvers as a necessary response to the increased activity of NATO and its allies at the Russian border. He took part in Monday’s exercise with a close political ally and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. According to the TASS agency, the army showed him, for example, new combat robots in action, each of which, according to the head of the Ministry of Defense, carried four anti-tank missiles.

Source: TASR / Vadim Savitskiy / Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

NATO has warned of a crisis

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has previously called on Russia to behave in a predictable and transparent manner and to make public the number of military personnel in the West-2021 exercise. The Baltic countries, as well as Poland and Ukraine, are concerned about these maneuvers.

Source: TASR / Vadim Savitskiy / Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

NATO, according to which Russia has regularly artificially reduced the size of the exercise in the past, has previously called on Moscow for transparency, stating that it will monitor the maneuvers closely. At the same time, according to Reuters, representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance warned that the exercise increases the risk of an accident that could trigger a crisis.

“While every country has the right to conduct military exercises, limited transparency, a broader context of maneuvers and accompanying hybrid activities are a cause for concern.” said Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau after meeting with his Baltic counterparts, whom he met in Riga, Latvia, on Monday. According to Reuters, he pointed to the strengthening of Russian troops near Ukraine in the earlier months of this year and drew attention to the situation on the border with Belarus, which Warsaw and the European Union accuse of sending migrants to the Baltics and Poland.

Source: TASR / Vadim Savitskiy / Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

NATO has launched a joint military exercise with Ukraine

A joint NATO-Ukraine military exercise began in Odessa on the Black Sea coast. The Mission of Ukraine to NATO reported on Twitter on Monday. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBOU) announced in a press release that its experts will also participate in the exercise called Coherent Resilience. The exercise focuses on combating hybrid threats to critical infrastructure in the Black Sea region.

More than 150 representatives of various Ukrainian government agencies, international experts and observers from NATO and Partner countries will discuss hybrid threats in the Black Sea region as part of the maneuvers. The exercise follows the decision of the foreign ministers of NATO member countries. In April 2019, they decided in Washington to support Ukraine in order to strengthen security in the Black Sea region.