Tag Archives: Invasion

Russia seeks to reassure over war games, denies invasion plans

FILE PHOTO: Servicemen take part in the joint war games Zapad-2013 (West-2013), attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at the Khmelevka range on Russia's Baltic Sea in the Kaliningrad Region, September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

By Andrew Osborn and Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia tried to calm fears over war games it plans to hold next month, saying on Tuesday the large-scale exercise would rehearse a purely defensive scenario and that allegations it was a springboard to invade Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine were false.

The Zapad-2017 war games next month have stirred unease in some countries because Russian troops and military hardware will be training inside Belarus, a Russian ally which borders Ukraine as well as NATO member states Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Russia has used such exercises in the past as a precursor or as a cover to project force in other countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, and the war games are taking place at a time when East-West tensions are high.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army’s top general in Europe, told Reuters last month that U.S. allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine were worried the exercises could be a “Trojan horse” aimed at leaving behind military equipment brought into Belarus.

And NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has warned that “substantially more” troops may take part than will be officially divulged, said last week the alliance would be watching closely.

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told Western military attaches in Moscow on Tuesday the West had nothing to fear.

“Some people are even going as far as to say that the Zapad-2017 exercises will be used as a springboard to invade and occupy Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine,” said Fomin.

“Not a single one of these paradoxical versions has anything to do with reality.” He called suggestions that Russia posed a threat to anyone “myths”.

The drills, which will be held from Sept. 14 to 20 in Belarus, western Russia and Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad, will simulate repelling an attack by extremist groups.

“As well as its anti-terrorist backdrop, the Zapad-2017 exercise is of a purely defensive nature,” said Fomin, who said the drills were routine and conducted with ally Belarus every two years.

Moscow says almost 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen will take part, as well as around 70 planes and helicopters. Almost 700 pieces of military hardware will be deployed, including almost 250 tanks, 10 ships and various artillery and rocket systems.

Russia said the scale of the exercise was in line with international rules. With less than 13,000 troops, international observation of the drills was not mandatory, it said.

Belarussian Deputy Defence Minister Oleg Belokonev, speaking in Minsk, said any troops and equipment brought into Belarus for the war games would be withdrawn afterwards.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow and by Andrey Makhovsky in Minsk; Editing by Andrew Roche)

NATO Refocusing Mission Upon Russia

NATO is refocusing their efforts toward Russia in light of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and takeover of Crimea last year.

NATO wants to prevent Russia from doing the same thing to other former Soviet Republics.

“We have reasons to believe that Russia views the Baltic region as one of NATO’s most vulnerable areas, a place where NATO’s resolve can be tested,” said Sven Mikser, Estonia’s defense minister.

“If the Russians sense a window of opportunity, they will use it to their advantage,” said Estonia’s chief of defense, Lt. Gen. Riho Terras. “We must make sure there’s no room for miscalculation.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been traveling to the capitals of NATO member nations to talk about the refocus on Russia.  He has pledged the U.S. to give weapons and loan commandos to a new NATO rapid reaction force.

The U.S. will also place heavy weapons and tanks in the Baltics and Eastern Europe for the first time.

NATO is facing issues with member nations such as Germany, Italy and France not being in favor of going to war with Russia should an invasion of Estonia or other former Soviet republics take place.

Russia Masses Troops On Ukrainian Border

Despite asserting that they would not be invading any other parts of Ukraine, Russia has massed over 100,000 troops on the country’s border.

Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukraine National Security Council, said during a webcast that Russia has stationed large amounts of troops along the northern, western and southern borders of the country.

“We might see a huge attack on the territory of continental Ukraine [any day] and we are getting ready for it,” Parubiy said.

Intelligence officials say that Russia is working behind the scenes to try and stir up dissent throughout the rest of the country as an excuse to invade the rest of the nation.

U.S. lawmakers are being cautious about the situation, with one Representative noting that Russia has sent a large amount of armored vehicles and aircraft to the border.

A war in Ukraine could bring massive problems to the world oil markets and Europe, which is heavily dependent on natural gas from Russia.

Russia Gains China’s Support on Ukraine

Russian leaders told foreign press Monday that Chinese leaders are largely in agreement with the Russian invasion of part of Ukraine.

Russian troops have now surrounded military bases in Crimea and are preventing Ukrainian soldiers from being able to move anywhere within that area as Russian forces reinforce their positions.

Russian forces have also taken control of a port in the city of Kerch on the eastern edge of Crimea.  The Crimean peninsula has a large Russian speaking population and the Russian leadership says their forces are there to protect those people.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News that we’re in the midst of the most serious crisis that Europe has faced in the 21st century.  The news of the invasion and the possibility of impending war have created a major impact on world markets, with Russia’s stock market down 10 percent.

The seven members of the G8 with Russia have called on Russia to respect the sovereignty of the Ukraine and called on them to remove themselves from Ukrainian territory.