The situation in the southeast Ukraine has prompted Russia to start military drills, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
“The forces are clearly unequal,” the minister said before a ministerial collegium meeting.
“The starting gun to use weapons against their own civilians has
already been fired. If today this military machine is not stopped, it
will lead to a large number of the dead and wounded. Nor is the
situation around Ukraine being helped by the announced drills of NATO
troops in Poland and the Baltic States,” Shoigu said.
“We have to react to such developments,” the defense minister said.
“As of today, our battalion tactical combined-arms groups from the
Southern and Western military districts have begun drills in the areas
bordering with Ukraine. The troops will practice marches and tactical
deployment for executing tasks as necessary,” the minister said.
“Besides this our aviation units will perform flights to practice operations near our national border,” he said.
