Russian troops are on their feet: combat readiness exercises to be held across the country

This decision, which has not been seen for decades, was made in the face of tensions on the border with Ukraine.

“The forces have landed in tactical, special and bilateral exercises,” the Russian defense minister was quoted as saying by Russia’s state news agency RIA.

S. Shoigu demanded that his subordinates “ensure a high quality and safety of the control sessions by relocating the steps of the soldiers and military equipment.”

It is announced that combat readiness inspections are underway across the country, from the Northern Navy and military installations in the Arctic to the Russian-occupied Kuril Islands and Kamchatka.

The exercise will involve all types of armed forces, from ground units to navy, air and strategic forces, ready to launch nuclear strikes.

True, the main exercises will be held at the Cugol and Sergeyivsk industrial estates in the Far East just outside Lake Baikal.

NATO warned Moscow a little earlier about the movement of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine and the increasingly violent ceasefire agreement in the Donbass conflict zone.

CNN reported Monday that Russia is concentrating unprecedented military power in the Arctic and is testing the latest weapons in the region, taking advantage of unusually hot weather conditions. The United States is “closely monitoring” Russian military activity in the Arctic, the Pentagon said.

“NATO will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We remain vigilant and continue to monitor the situation very closely,” a NATO spokesman told the German newspaper Welt.

According to him, Russia’s destabilizing measures are undermining efforts to reduce tensions, as envisioned in the mid-2020 ceasefire agreement brokered by the OSCE.

The Allies already met on April 1 at the level of 30 NATO ambassadors to discuss the current security situation in the Black Sea, the spokesman said. The allies, he said, are alarmed by extensive Russian military activity near Ukraine.

There are also concerns that Russia violated the July 2020 ceasefire agreement and killed four Ukrainian soldiers last week.

According to unconfirmed reports, the Russian government is dropping tanks into the border region and Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, among other things. The Moscow government is talking about self-defense measures. Recently, violence in eastern Ukraine has increased again.