The only true teaching

Russia under the cover of "sudden inspections of combat readiness" has been conducting the largest military exercises since the Cold War. This was stated by Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbou at the Kiev Forum for Security, the press service of the alliance reports .

Some of these "checks" were used to mask the annexation of Crimea, support separatists in the east of Ukraine and for large -scale accumulation of forces on the border with this country, Vershbow noted.

"Russia decided to use power - or threats by force - to achieve its strategic goals. This causes serious concern not only to Ukraine and the immediate neighbors of Russia, but also by the rest of the world. Its actions undermine a system based on the rules that have brought peace and prosperity to many millions of people in recent decades," said NATO deputy agent.

Vershbow again emphasized that NATO would never accept and recognize the annexation of Crimea.

"We put NATO in the position of power. This is the best way to protect our allies, but also the best basis for interacting with Russia and supporting our partners - such partners as Ukraine," said Vershbow.

On Tuesday, by decision of President Vladimir Putin, in preparation for the Strategic teaching "Center-2015", a sudden test of combat readiness of the Air Air Force and the Air Defense Forces of the Central Military District began. About 12 thousand military personnel are involved in the audit, up to 250 aircraft and helicopters, about 700 units of various weapons and military equipment are involved.

From March 16 to March 21 , a large -scale test of combat readiness of the Armed Forces , one of the largest recently, was held in Russia. The audit touched on all five operational-strategic commands, as well as central subordination compounds. The main emphasis in the exercises came on conducting the fighting of heterogeneous forces in the Arctic zone. They involved more than 80 thousand military personnel, about 12 thousand units of various military equipment, including 65 warships, 15 submarines and more than 220 combat aircraft and helicopters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten said that such large -scale exercises do not contribute to establishing a dialogue with the North Atlantic Alliance. According to him, Russia must knowingly inform its neighbors about planned exercises.