Our mind is in full swing

Iskander-M missile systems will be placed where the country's leadership will consider it necessary. This was the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said in Mati at a meeting with students, RIA Novosti reports.

“Recently, a big noise rose that we were putting the Iskander somewhere in the wrong place. In the territory of the Russian Federation we want, we put it there,” the Minister of Defense said. In addition, according to him, Russia has something to respond to Europrop. “We don’t sit just like that, we don’t look. Our science, designers and factories, believe me, work very effectively. And the weapon that the Russian army possesses, it is powerful, mobile and effectively. We have something to answer,” Shoigu said.

The minister noted that a number of foreign countries are now concerned about the fact that Russia was deploying its troops in the Arctic. “Next year, I think, for the most part, we will complete the program for the deployment of troops on the Franz Joseph land, the new land, we are studying the island of Wrangel. Thus, the whole belt will be closed,” said Shoigu.

The minister urged not to believe the rumors that Russia is weak and nothing could. “Believe me, this is not true,” he said.

Earlier it was reported that the operational and tactical missile systems "Iskander-M" are adopted by units of the Southern and Western Military District . The placement of these missiles in the Kaliningrad region contradicts Russia's statements about the desire for a close dialogue and cooperation with the EU and NATO, say on Tuesday adviser to the President of Lithuania on international politics Mindaugas Zhichkus.

“We informed Russia about the concern of her neighbors with information about the deployment of Iskander missile in Kaliningrad. We called on Moscow not to take steps leading to destabilization in the region,” the representative of the US State Department Marie Harf said at a briefing on Monday.

On Monday, the head of the press service and information of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that the Iskander missile divisions are not contrary to any international agreements . Thus, the department first commented on the information that appeared in the German media about the placement of Iskander in the Kaliningrad region.

On December 10, at the final collegium of the Ministry of Defense, Shoigu said that Russia intends to create a group of troops in the Arctic . Her task will be to ensure military security and protect the national interests of Russia in this territory. According to the minister, in the framework of this process, the restoration of airfields and mooring structures on the earth of Franz Joseph and the Novosibirsk Islands has already begun. In addition, the Temp airfield was repaired and commissioned.

In the future, it is planned to restore at least seven northern airfields located in the cities of Tiksi, Naryan-Mar, Alykel, Amerma, Anadyr, as well as in the village of Rogachevo and in the Border of Nagurskoye, Shoigu noted.

In turn, President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the same collegium, emphasized the importance of protecting the country's national interests in the Arctic. In this regard, he demanded to devote special attention to the deployment of infrastructure and military units in the Arctic direction.