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Russia’s largest-ever war games and NATO concerns

Vladimir Putin vows to beef up army saying Russia needs to strengthen its military capabilities to defend sovereignty.

Vostok Russia
The week-long Vostok-2018 manoeuvres span vast expanses of Siberia and Asia-Pacific, the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean and showcase the military might of Russia and China at a time of simmering tensions with the US. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]
Published On 13 Sep 2018

President Vladimir Putin promised to strengthen Russia‘s army and supply it with new generation weapons, as he travelled to watch the country’s biggest war games since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Vostok-2018 drills taking place in eastern Siberia close to the border with China, involve 300,000 Russian troops as well as joint exercises with the Chinese army.

Addressing a gathering of the soldiers on Thursday, Putin said Russia was a peaceful country ready for cooperation with any state interested in partnership, but that it was a soldier’s duty to be ready to defend his country and its allies.

“Therefore we are going to further strengthen our armed forces, supply them with the latest generations of weapons and equipment, develop international military partnership,” Putin said.

The exercises, which involve more than 1,000 military aircrafts as well as up to 36,000 tanks, come amid tense relations between Russia and the West.

China sent about 3,200 troops, 900 combat vehicles, and 30 aircrafts to join the drills at a Siberian firing range – a deployment that reflects its shift towards a full-fledged military alliance with Russia.

Russia Vostok
As well as 300,000 troops, some 1,000 Russian planes and 36,000 tanks and other combat vehicles are involved in the exercises. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]
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Vostok Russia
The Chinese media have described the People's Liberation Army involvement in the drills as the country's largest-ever dispatch of forces abroad for war games. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]
Russia Vostok 2018
President Vladimir Putin lauded Russian, Chinese and Mongolian troops for their skills, saying they 'demonstrated their capability to deflect potential military threats'. [Alexey Nikolsky/via AFP]
Vostok Russia
Analysts say Moscow had to invite the Chinese and Mongolian militaries given the proximity of the war games to their borders, and because the scale meant the neighbouring nations would probably have seen them as a threat had they been excluded. [Sergei Grits/AP]
Russia Vostok
The location of the main training range for Vostok-2018 - 5,000km east of Moscow - means it is likely to be watched closely by Japan, North and South Korea. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]
Russia Vostok 2018
The Western military organisation NATO warned that Russia was preparing for a 'large-scale conflict'. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]
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Russia Vostok
The Russian military said the massive war games were purely defensive in nature and not aimed at other countries. [Mladen Antonov/AFP]