Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu
Russia will next month hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, a massive military exercise that will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies.
The exercise, called Vostok-2018 (East-2018), will take place in central and eastern Russian military districts and involve almost 300,000 troops, over 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia's naval fleets, and all its airborne units, Shoigu said in a statement.
The manoeuvres will take place at a time of heightened tension between the West and Russia, which is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance on its western flank.
NATO says it has beefed up its forces in eastern Europe to deter potential Russian military action after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Monday it had noticed Washington was building up its military forces in the Middle East in preparation for what Moscow feared was a possible strike on Syrian government forces, Russian news agencies reported.Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by agencies as saying that the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, had entered the Mediterranean on Aug. 25 armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria. Russia, Tajikistan deny any air attack in Afghan border clash
Russia says sees signs US preparing for possible strike on Syria
The war games, which will take place from Sept. 11-15, are likely to displease Japan which has already complained about what it says is a Russian military build-up in the Far East.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to attend a forum in Vladivostok over the same period, and a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday Tokyo always paid attention to shifts in Russian-Chinese military cooperation.
Shoigu said the war games would be the biggest since a Soviet military exercise, Zapad-81 (West-81) in 1981.
"In some ways they will repeat aspects of Zapad-81, but in other ways the scale will be bigger," Shoigu told reporters, while visiting the Russian region of Khakassia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during an economic forum in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok next month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.Russia is expecting some Asian leaders and companies to attend to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok from September 11-13.
Putin, Xi to hold talks next month in Russia's Vladivostok
The Russian Ministry of Defence has said that Chinese and Mongolian military units will also take part in the exercise.
"A MORE ASSERTIVE RUSSIA"
When asked if the cost of holding such a massive military exercise was justified at a time when Russia is faced with higher social spending demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such war games were essential.
"The country's ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means (the exercise) is justified," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
When asked if China's involvement meant Moscow and Beijing were moving towards an alliance, Peskov said it showed that the two allies were cooperating in all areas.
Afghanistan officials said on Monday a Tajik or Russian aircraft had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards, but officials in both Tajikistan and Russia denied that they had done so.Cross-border clashes are rare on Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, compared, for example, with fighting along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.The air attack followed a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards in Durqad district of Takhar province, two Afghan officials said.Khalil Asir, a spokesman for Takhar provincial police, said eight Taliban were killed and six wounded in the air strike after a clash in which two Tajik border guards were killed.Tajik or Russian plane bombs Afghan border area, six dead"It was not clear if it was a Russian or Tajik aircraft," he said.Jawed Hejri, spokesman for Takhar provincial governor, also said it was not clear where the aircraft came from but he said the six people killed in the clash with Tajik border forces were drug smugglers.An Afghan defence ministry spokesman declined to make any immediate comment.A spokesman for Tajik border guards in Dushanbe said Tajikistan had not carried out any bombing and did not confirm the death of two border guards.However, the official, who declined to be identified, said three Tajik forestry workers had been attacked by intruders from Afghanistan. Two were killed while the third escaped.The official declined to give any more details.Russia said its military aircraft had not conducted any operations near Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, the RIA news agency cited the defence ministry as saying.Much of the porous Afghan-Tajik border is in mountains and difficult for Tajik authorities to police.Afghan government officials say Russian forces, including aircraft, help Tajikistan with security against the Taliban and other militant groups. At the same time, drugs from Afghanistan are smuggled to the outside world through Tajikistan.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said there had been a clash, and an air attack, but it was between drug smugglers and Tajik border guards and the aircraft bombed a forested area used by smugglers."Taliban fighters have no permission to clash with neighbour countries," he said.Lieutenant-Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said U.S. forces did not conduct any strikes in the area.A retired Afghan air force general, Atiqullah Amarkhel, said those responsible for the air attack should be identified.
Russia, Tajikistan deny any air attack in Afghan border clash
China and Russia have taken part in joint military drills before but not on such a large scale.
NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had briefed the alliance on the planned exercise in May and that NATO planned to monitor it. Russia had invited military attaches from NATO countries based in Moscow to observe the war games, an offer he said was under consideration.
"All nations have the right to exercise their armed forces, but it is essential that this is done in a transparent and predictable manner," White said in an emailed statement.
"Vostok demonstrates Russia’s focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defence budget and its military presence."
Shoigu this month announced the start of snap combat readiness checks in central and eastern military districts ahead of the planned exercise.
"Imagine 36,000 armoured vehicles - tanks, armoured personnel carriers and armoured infantry vehicles - moving and working simultaneously, and that all this, naturally, is being tested in conditions as close as possible to military ones," Shoigu said on Tuesday.