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Russia has intensified its combat drills for its armed forces – despite spending
Preparations are underway for the largest military exercise in Russia since the Cold War, involving some 300,000 personnel in eastern Siberia.
China sends 3,200 soldiers to participate in "Vostok 2018", with many armored vehicles and Chinese planes. Mongolia also sends units.
The last Russian exercise of similar scale took place in 1981, during the Cold War, but Vostok-2018 involves more troops.
It comes at a time when tensions between NATO and Russia are intensifying.
Relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – a US-dominated 29-member defense alliance – have worsened since Russia annexed Crimea to Ukraine in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the exercises were justified by "aggressive and unfriendly" attitudes towards Russia.
What will happen in the exercises?
Tuesday and Wednesday will be the planning and preparation as operations begin Thursday and the last five days, said the head of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 36,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored infantry vehicles will participate in Vostok-2018 from 11 to 17 September, as well as more than 1,000 aircraft. Vostok is Russian for the east.
The exercise will be spread over five army training grounds, four air bases and areas located in the Sea of Japan, the Bering Strait and the Sea of Okhotsk. Up to 80 naval vessels will participate, from two Russian fleets.
The exercises will not be near the Kuril Islands in northern Japan, according to Russia.
According to the television channel Zvezda, three Russian paratroopers brigades will play a key role during exercises in the Tsugol military zone near Russia's borders with China and Mongolia.
A key objective is to implement the rapid deployment of thousands of soldiers, as well as planes and vehicles, from western Russia to the eastern regions, for thousands of kilometers, reports TV Zvezda. This involves refueling combat aircraft.
The Vostok-2018 scale is equivalent to the forces deployed in one of the great battles of World War II.
A smaller exercise between Russia and Belarus took place last year.
Why is this happening now?
President Vladimir Putin has made military modernization – including new nuclear missiles – a priority.
The Russian armed forces number about one million people in total.
A Russian senator and reserve colonel, Frants Klintsevich, said that "the West has incomparable fighting and coordinating capabilities, but times have changed; we now have a different attitude to combat readiness. "
To know more about the Russian army:
How and why will China be involved?
The Chinese Ministry of Defense has talked about strengthening military cooperation and "building the capacity of both sides to jointly respond to various security threats," without specifying these threats.
The ministry confirmed the extent of Chinese participation: "3,200 men, more than 900 pieces of military equipment as well as 30 aircraft and helicopters".
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The Chinese and Russian naval infantry has been driven together in the far east of Russia last year
Mongolia has not given details of its involvement.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Islamist extremism in Central Asia poses a major threat to Russian security.
China has imposed heavy security and censorship in the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region.
Xinjiang has experienced intermittent violence – followed by crackdowns – for years. China accuses Islamist militants and separatists of orchestrating the problem.
- China denies owning one million Uighurs
Peskov said the participation of Chinese units in Vostok-2018 showed that Russia and Beijing are cooperating in all areas.
In recent years, they have deepened military cooperation and during these exercises, they will have a common headquarters.
This contrasts with the Cold War years when the USSR and China were rivals for world communist leadership and clashed at their far eastern border.
Demonstration of strength
Sarah Rainsford of the BBC in Moscow writes:
The scale and scope of Vostok-2018 are unprecedented for modern Russia, but no surprise. The giant exercise is clearly seen as a show of force by Vladimir Putin and his military, a demonstration that despite Western sanctions, including against the defense sector, the country remains defiant.
It also reminds us that while Russia is considered a hostile and aggressive force in the west, Moscow has long regarded NATO's encroachment as a threat.
Russia does not come to do a military exercise?
Yes, in the Mediterranean, it was the coordination between warships and aircraft.
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Russia has deployed Tu-160 heavy bombers in the Mediterranean
The Tu-160 heavy bombers also flew from Russia and practiced the launch of cruise missiles – the firepower that Russia has already used in Syria.
It was small compared to Vostok-2018, involving 26 ships (including two submarines) and 34 aircraft. It lasted a week and ended Saturday.
Western analysts have seen it as part of Russia's operation in Syria. Russian planes played a key role in supporting Syrian government forces.
What did NATO say?
Spokesman Dylan White said that NATO had been informed about Vostok-2018 in May and would monitor it.
He said that "all nations have the right to exercise their armed forces, but it is essential that this be done in a transparent and predictable manner".
"Vostok demonstrates Russia's focus on large-scale conflict, which is part of a trend we have seen for a long time: a more assertive Russia, increasing considerably its defense budget and its military presence ".
Why is the tension between Russia and NATO high?
It has risen since Russia annexed Crimea to Ukraine in 2014 and supported pro-Russian rebels in the east of Ukraine.
NATO reacted with increased deployment of forces in Eastern Europe, sending 4,000 troops to member countries.
Russia claims that the construction of NATO is unjustified and provocative. It is said that the Ukrainian Revolution of 2013-2014 was a state coup led by the West.
Russian diplomats were expelled from NATO countries after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with a nerve agent in the south of the country. England in March. The United Kingdom blamed the Russian military intelligence – the GRU – for the attack; Moscow denied any involvement.
