Russia has begun military drills along the shared Ukrainian border in reaction to "anti-terror" operations conducted by Ukrainian forces against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said that Russia had initiated to dissuade Kyiv from "violence against its own citizens". "If this military machine is not stopped, it will lead to greater numbers of dead and wounded. Planned exercises by Nato forces in Poland and the Baltic countries do not foster normalisation of the situation surrounding Ukraine, either," Shoigu was quoted as saying.
International Business Times: Russia begins military drills along border to prevent ‘military machine’
Russian soldiers prepare to fire their Msta-S self-propelled howitzer during military exercises in the southern Russia's Volgograd region, on April 2, 2014.
