The concerns voiced by spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Jen Psaki regarding the Russian drills at the Ashuluk range in the Astrakhan region are groundless, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told reporters on Aug 5.
“The Russian Defense Ministry is absorbed by another statement of the
spokesperson for the U.S. foreign affairs agency on the drills of the
armed forces being held in the Astrakhan region and expresses concern
over lack of basic geography knowledge of Ms. Jen Psaki,” the Russian
Defense Ministry spokesperson said.
“As it is known, the Ashuluk range is almost 1,000 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border,” the spokesperson said.
“So, whenever such statements are about to be made, it would be
useful, before stirring up the global community, to study not only
information from social-networking sites but also refer to official
sources, for instance, the website of the Russian Defense Ministry and a
geographic atlas,” the Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson said.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Jennifer Psaki told a briefing
that the United States is concerned about the exercise in the Astrakhan
region. “We are deeply concerned by Russia’s plan to conduct a large
military aviation exercise this week in areas bordering Ukraine.
Exercises of this kind are provocative and only serve to escalate
tensions,” Psaki said.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the aviation
drills held as part of the bilateral exercise of the Air Force and Air
Defense are taking part at the Ashuluk testing site on August 4 – 8. The
Air Force/Air Defense exercise is being held in accordance with the
2014 combat-training plan approved last year. The first stage of the
exercise will see the aircraft redeploying from their northern airbases
in the Western Military District to airfields in the Central Military
District.
During the second stage, aviation will be used on testing grounds in
Ashuluk, Astrakhan region. The aircraft will perform sorties with
practical and tactical use of airborne weapons against ground and aerial
targets in unfamiliar testing grounds.
Furthermore, Ilyushin Il-78 aerial tankers will conduct several
mid-air refuelings in one flight for fighters and bombers, Mikoyan
MiG-31 and Sukhoi Su-34, in northern latitudes beyond the Polar Circle.
The airplanes’ flight duration will be doubled to about eight hours.
In all, the exercise will involve over 100 aircraft of various types
such as Su-27 and MiG-31 fighters, Su-34 multirole systems and Su-24
frontline bombers, as well as Mil helicopters Mi-24, Mi-8, Mi-24 and
Mi-28N.
The exercise is led by Air Force Commander-in-chief Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev.
