Russia held military exercises in Crimea amid tensions with Ukraine

Russia launched major military exercises in Crimea on Thursday under the personal supervision of the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoiguas part of a show of force on Ukraine’s southern border that has caused great concern in Kiev and the West.

The Defense Ministry released a video Thursday morning showing the troops leaving for the training area not far from the town of Kerch in Crimea.

Upon his arrival in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, Shoigu flew over areas where troops and military equipment participating in maneuvers were deployed by helicopter, and checked the readiness of naval and land units, the Defense said in a statement.

The exercises, in which they also participate forces of the Russian fleets of the Caspian and Black seas, are carried out in the Opuk polygon, 40 kilometers from the Kerch Strait.

Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Opuk would host most of the maneuvers.

In them More than 10,000 soldiers, 1,200 arms and military materiel units from the Combined Forces of the Southern Military District are participating, the Black Sea Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla and the Airborne Forces.

More, more than 40 warships and 20 support ships join the maneuvers, depending on the military entity.

Already last Tuesday, more than twenty warships and fifty Russian planes participated in naval exercises in the Black Sea, scene for several weeks of an escalation of tension between Russia and the neighbor Ukraine.

Russia restricted flights over parts of Crimea and the Black Sea between April 20 and April 24, and declared this area “dangerous for air navigation”.

In addition, Moscow has announced that it will restrict the navigation of foreign warships in Russian Black Sea territorial waters from April 24 to October 31.

The Foreign Ministry clarified that This measure only concerns warships and will in no way affect the merchant navy. across the Kerch Strait.

The Russian military also conducted a series of exercises in southwest Russia, Crimea and other regions. Tuesday, a few Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew over the Baltic Sea for eight hours, and the Northern Fleet carried out massive maneuvers in the Arctic, the Defense Ministry said.

Concern for Ukraine and its allies

NATO says Russia’s intention “unwarranted” to shut down various areas of the Black Sea to carry out military maneuvers, in what the Alliance sees as “a broader pattern of Russian destabilizing behavior” in the region.

Ukraine protested last week against the Russian decision. The United States also raised concerns on Monday, and the State Department spokesman, Ned Price, He said that “this represents another unprovoked escalation in Moscow’s ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine.”

The European Union has also expressed concern about the build-up of troops and restrictions on navigation.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 after massive protests in the country, the former pro-russian president was ousted from power. Moscow later supported the separatists in eastern Ukraine, and the conflict has killed more than 14,000 people there in seven years.

Tensions have mounted in recent weeks with the growing violations of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and massive concentration of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine. Recent satellite images have shown hundreds of Russian military vehicles parked at several bases, shooting ranges and camps along the Ukrainian border, and dozens of fighter jets stationed at air bases in southwest Russia and Crimea.

Moscow dismissed the concerns of Ukraine Yes Where is, arguing that they are free to deploy their forces and claiming that they do not threaten anyone.

But at the same time, Moscow sternly warned the Ukrainian authorities not to try to use force to regain control from the rebels in the east, and highlighted recent statements by Ukrainian military officials that have opened the door to an offensive. The Kremlin said that Russia may be forced to intervene to protect civilians in the region.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who previously said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin refused to take his calls, on Tuesday proposed to the Russian leader to meet in eastern Ukraine to defuse tensions.

(With information from EFE and AP)

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