Russia to hold biggest military drills since Cold War

Russia will next month flex its military muscles and hold the biggest war games since the Cold War era, with almost 300,000 troops and 1,000 aircraft, the country’s defense minister says.

The Vostok-2018, or East 18, exercises simulating large-scale warfare, will be carried out from September 11 to 15 in the country’s east, with troops from China and Mongolia also taking part.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) speaks with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 29, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/Sputnik/Michael Klimentyev)

They come as Russia is hit by the latest round of US sanctions and faces even harsher ones over its alleged role in a nerve agent attack in Britain, with its relations with the West at their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

NATO says it sees the games as signs of “a more assertive Russia.”

— AFP