Russia to form 3 new divisions to counter NATO buildup
especiales
“The Defense Ministry is taking a number of measures to respond to the NATO military buildup at the Russian border,” Shoigu said on Wednesday. “Before the year's end two new divisions will be formed in the Western Military District and one in the Southern Military District.”
@RT_com Spring is comnig! Estonia expects 1,500 NATO troops for major Spring Storm drills http://on.rt.com/7bk9
Earlier there were reports in the Russian media that three new divisions with 10,000 troops each may be deployed in Rostov-on-Don, the Smolensk Region and the Voronezh Region.
NATO has been sending additional forces to Poland, the Baltic States and elsewhere near Russian borders since 2014. It claimed that the deployments were necessary to build confidence of Eastern European members in the face of "Russian aggression."
READ MORE: US deploys F-22 stealth fighter jets to Romanian base on Black Sea
The perceived aggression was exemplified by the example of Crimea, which seceded from Ukraine after a coup in Kiev. The former Ukrainian region voted in a referendum to join Russia, which was described as an illegal annexation through military force by the new government in Kiev and its foreign allies.
READ MORE: NATO to send 4,000 troops to border with Russia - report
Moscow rejected the reasoning and said that the alliance was using the political crisis in Ukraine to justify its existence by playing the old Russia scaremongering card.
During a top-level meeting at the ministry, Shoigu also said that Russia has rapped-up military training and production of advanced military hardware in response to the NATO threat.
Add new comment