Russia will conduct large-scale naval exercises in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean in the coming weeks. The government announced this on Thursday.
In total, more than 140 war and support ships, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 pieces of military equipment and about 10,000 military personnel will participate,” the defence ministry said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
According to the ministry, these exercises will take place in the waters and seas bordering Russian territory and in “operationally important ocean areas worldwide”.
“Separate exercises will be held in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Northeast Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean,” the Russian ministry said. “The main objective is the deployment of troops to protect Russian national interests in the world’s seas and counter military threats against Russia from seas and oceans.”
Moscow is also planning joint naval exercises with Iran and China. However, a date for those exercises has not yet been announced.
The exercises take place when the tension with the West can be cut. In recent months, Russia has brought 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border and is demanding rock-solid guarantees that the ex-Soviet state will never join the NATO military alliance.