Russia 'to hold biggest war games since the height of the Cold War next month'

War games: A Russian missile pictured in Moscow during this year's International Military Technology Forum
EPA
James Morris28 August 2018

Russia is to hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades, according to reports.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying the huge military event will take place next month.

The exercise, called “Vostok-2018”, is said to be taking place in central and eastern Russian military districts.

It is reported to involve almost 300,000 troops, over 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia's naval fleets, and all its airborne units.

It will be the biggest military exercise since 1981, Mr Shoigu was quoted as telling Russian news agencies.

The Standard has approached the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence for comment.

Russia held a huge war games Zapad-2017 in September last year, with president Vladimir Putin inspecting the military exercise.

Members of Nato have voiced concern about the purpose of the drill.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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