Russia May Send 100K Troops to NATO’s Borders

In this Aug. 2, 2017, photo, Russian paratroopers mark Paratroopers Day in Moscow’s Red Square. The Russian military says major war games, the Zapad (West) 2017 maneuvers, will not threaten anyone. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

 

Russia showed off its growing naval strength last month ahead of huge land exercises on NATO state borders set to begin Thursday.

The exercises are part of President Vladimir Putin’s effort to demonstrate Russia’s full recovery from being a military basket case following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia’s Northern Fleet claimed to have sent about 50 ships, submarines and support vessels into the Barents and Baltic Seas in August on a series of anti-submarine, anti-mine and search-and-rescue operations, a Russian Navy spokesman told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

World’s Largest Sub Leaves Port for Arctic Wargames

A source in the Russian Northern Fleet said on Friday that the Russian Akula class nuclear ballistic missile submarine Dmitry Donskoy has left its base in the city of Severodvinsk, entering the White Sea, where it will take part in anti-submarine war games, according to the website flot.com.

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The vessel, named after the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy, measures 172 meters in length and has a crew of 160, making it the world’s largest submarine.