*Russia 🇷🇺to Hold Biggest War⚔ Games Since Cold War*
Russia plans to hold massive war games involving 300,000 personnel next month - its biggest military manoeuvres since the Cold War. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said units from China and Mongolia would take part in the exercise, at military ranges in central and eastern Russia.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said units from China and Mongolia would take part in the exercise, at military ranges in central and eastern Russia. He compared the "Vostok-2018" war games to Soviet manoeuvres in 1981, which involved a pretend attack on Nato. The exercises come at a time of rising tension between Nato and Russia.
Nato reacted to Russia's annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its backing of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine with an increased deployment of forces in eastern Europe. Russia says the Nato build-up is unjustified and provocative.
Mr Shoigu said 36,000 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and armoured infantry vehicles would take part in Vostok-2018, from 11 to 15 September, along with more than 1,000 aircraft. "Vostok" is Russian for "east". Referring to the Soviet manoeuvres in 1981, he said: "In some ways they will repeat aspects of Zapad-81, but in other ways the scale will be bigger."
