More than 10,500 Russian soldiers and dozens of warships will take part in the country’s second annual naval drills in the Baltic Sea, the Defense Ministry has said.
The exercises come amid simmering tensions between Russia and its NATO-member neighbors in the Baltics.
The Russian Navy’s Aug. 1-9 “Ocean Shield” exercises involve 10,634 troops, 49 warships and 58 naval aircraft, Interfax cited the Defense Ministry as saying on Thursday.
The scores of warships, submarines, aircraft that were seen in Navy Day parades last week make up the bulk of equipment in this year’s “Ocean Shield.”
Russia staged its first “Ocean Shield” Baltic Sea drills in September, where Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu vowed to hold the maneuvers on a regular basis.
In July, the Russian Navy conducted exercises in the Norwegian Sea as NATO prepared to hold annual Dynamic Mongoose anti-submarine drills west of Andøya, northern Norway.
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