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A total of around 80,000 people participate in the “Caucasus 2020” campaign: Russia has deployed its army in the Caucasus. The biggest military maneuver of this year is scheduled until next Saturday. Not only Russian units are part of the exercise, but up to 12,900 soldiers from, among others, China, Pakistan, Belarus, Armenia and Myanmar. A signal is also being sent to NATO, which has conducted a similar exercise near Russia.
“The exercise is not aggressive in nature,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said before the official start on Monday at the Kapustin Yar training area in the Astrakhan region of the Volga.
Test of Russian defense capacity.
The exercise strengthens cooperation among participating states and improves joint action by soldiers, he said. The Russian navy is also involved. From the point of view of Moscow’s defense politicians, the move is no less a reaction to similar NATO exercises in Russia’s neighborhood. In total, the event spans 14 locations, including some in the Black and Caspian Seas.
One of the objectives is to simulate military operations in the resolution of armed conflicts related to the fight against terrorism. Technical staff and civil defense employees are among the many involved. Some 250 tanks and more than 600 other combat technology units would be used, including artillery systems. Due to the corona pandemic, Russia temporarily held back with military maneuvers and asked NATO to reduce its exercises as well.
Russia continues to make great maneuvers. The largest Russian military exercise since the end of the Cold War began in September 2018. Nearly 300,000 soldiers and 1,000 aircraft participated, and for the first time China participated in a Russian military exercise of this magnitude. The aim of the actions is to demonstrate Moscow’s ability to defend itself.
