Alwaght- On Monday March 16 2015, the Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered nationwide six-day drills in a major show of strength amid tensions with the West over Ukraine. Putin gave the order to bring Russia's Northern Fleet, separate units of the Western Military District and the Airborne Troops to full alert in snap combat readiness exercises.
In the beginning, the drills involved a total of 38,000 troops, 3,360 military vehicles, 110 aircraft and helicopters, 41 ships and 15 submarines, as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Andrei Kartapolov announced it. However, later on Russia said on Thursday March 19 that it had doubled the number of troops taking part in mass drills ordered by President Vladimir Putin this week to 80,000.
Snap military exercises were held in the sea, as well as on the ground and in the air until March 21. The country-wide exercises have involved nearly every unit: from paratroopers to antisubmarine and air forces and from special operation units to communications personnel. Their ultimate goal was to improve the military capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces, according to the Defense Ministry.
According to an Interfax report, besides Crimea and Kaliningrad, as many as 30 army air force crews of Russia's Western Military District were being redeployed from airfields in the Leningrad and Smolensk regions to a military airfield near the Arctic Circle as part of surprise combat readiness drills being held in the Northern Fleet and the Western Military District.
The military elsewhere in Russia also launched drills. About 3,000 troops drilled on Sakhalin Island, the Kamchatka Peninsula and other areas in the far east.
In southern Siberia, the Russian air force launched maneuvers at the firing range in Buryatia, and in southwestern Russia, about 500 troops were involved in tactical drills on shooting ranges in the Stavropol region.
Many more are coming: the Russian Defense Ministry announced in December 2014 that it planned to hold at least 4,000 military drills across the country in 2015.
Kartapolov also confirmed that Russia will continue to hold surprise drills, but their scale and purpose should not alarm anyone. Kartapolov specified that the exercises demonstrated high level of readiness of the Northern Fleet to ensure military safety of Russia's Arctic borders.
Experts say whatever the purpose of the latest maneuvers, the intent is clear: to show Putin's Russia will stop at nothing to protect its interests.
US commanders have professed grudging admiration for Russia's ability to move troops quickly.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army's most senior commander in Europe, told reporters: "I've been watching the Russian exercises ... what I cared about is they can get 30,000 people and 1,000 tanks in a place really fast."
Ahead of the first anniversary of Crimea's incorporation into Russia, the United States and its NATO allies launched a series of joint drills in the Black Sea.
Moreover, the United States has launched a three-month military exercise called Atlantic Resolve deploying about 3,000 soldiers to Eastern Europe for training exercises with forces from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to reassure its European allies that are concerned about potential Russian military threats.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed NATO for its increasing military activities near Russian borders, and in what seems to be a reaction from the Kremlin, three fleets of the Russian Navy held military exercises simultaneously as the NATO drills went on.
After the drills finished, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov stressed that Moscow is not seeking confrontation with anyone. "This is neither the rumbling of caterpillar tracks, nor sabre rattling nor muscle flexing," said Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov. He further added,”We are not like some countries who cockily stage a show of force by moving their troops, arms and equipment to foreign territories.”
"Moscow only acted in a defensive way to ensure its national security. We are not seeking confrontation with NATO. We would like our cooperation to develop," Antonov said in response to reports spooking the snap drills. He said foreign attachés would be briefed on the drills at the military’s top-secret National Defense Management Centre this weekend.
