ASHULUK, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Drills at the Ashuluk firing range in Russia’s southern region of Astrakhan entered their active phase on Wednesday, with the Russian military preparing to train for conflict between two imaginary states.
During the maneuvers, recently labelled by US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki as “provocative,” the servicemen will be involved in a conflict between Murmania, located in the Western Military District and Uralia, which is in the Central Military District.
On the first day of the active phase of the drills, the forces of Murmania are expected to attack Uralia. The next day, the enemies will switch places, training in both offensive and defensive military tactics.
Russia is holding air-force exercises at Ashuluk from August 4 to August 8. According to the country’s foreign ministry, the drills are conducted in accordance with the training plan for 2014, which was approved last year. Ashuluk is also located hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border.
The exercises, led by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev, involve around 6,500 servicemen, 800 units of equipment and over 100 aircraft and helicopters, as well as S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.
Answering a direct question about the whereabouts of the military exercises, Psaki said Tuesday that the United States was concerned by the drills and considered them a provocation despite the distance from Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Psaki said Washington was “deeply concerned by Russia’s plans to conduct large-scale aviation exercises this week near the border of Ukraine. Exercises of this kind are provocative and only serve to escalate tensions."
In response to the US concerns, the Russian Defense Ministry said Psaki should check her geographical facts before raising alarm bells over the Russian Air Force exercises.
