"The NATO Strategic Communications Centre in Riga and the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn are aimed at carrying out a large-scale information war […] The main task of these facilities is deactivating critically important facilities and infrastructure of their potential adversary — you can see that this is mainly Russia — by hampering the functioning of systems of public administration, financial organizations, companies, electric energy stations, railway stations and airports", Popov said.
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Popov also told Krasnaya Zvezda that the alliance is reviving its system of transatlantic redeployment of troops from the United States and Canada to Europe close to the Russian border.
In addition, Popov said that the armed forces of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will conduct a number of large-scale joint drills this year.
"According to the plan of the joint exercises, over 40 various events are planned to be held in 2019", Popov said.
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The official added that the drills would be dedicated to the development of the SCTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force and military administration systems, as well as their use and maintenance.
The CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan as full members. Afghanistan and Serbia are observer states.
