Russian Military To Practice Repelling Invasion From East

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Wed, 16 Aug 2006, 01:01

Moscow: Russia's military will practice repelling a foreign invasion during exercises this month in the country's far east, the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta said Tuesday. The exercises will take place on the Kamchatka peninsula some time in the second half of August and will be presided over by President Vladimir Putin, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources on the military's general staff.

The aim is to improve cooperation between different arms of the military in "defending the coast from possible armed invasion," the newspaper said.

"The 'conditional opponents' are not abstract terrorists but the armed forces of real states," the paper said.

Taking part will be 5,000 servicemen, 20 ships, nuclear submarines, artillery and air defence forces, the newspaper said.

The exercises will be a continuation of staff-level exercises that took place last month, the paper said.

The military will practice "repelling a coastal landing by foreign forces, cutting the naval communications of the conditional opponents and fighting submarines and airborne enemies," the newspaper said.