Shoigu’s Russian Military Machine at Highest Level of Readiness in Decades
SputnikNews.com
06.11.2015
Russia’s Armed Forces have reached the highest levels of combat readiness they’ve seen in decades, analysts speaking to RIA Novosti have suggested, noting that the air war against ISIL in Syria, together with the dramatic increase in military exercises of various kinds, demonstrate that efforts to modernize the military have proven successful.
Three years ago today, on November 6, 2012, Sergei Shoigu was appointed Russia’s defense minister, replacing his disgraced predecessor, Anatoly Serdyukov, the former furniture salesman who had become mired in a major corruption scandal during his tenure.
Analysts suggest that in these three years, Shoigu has managed not only to get the military back on track and to restore its fighting capability, but to completely transform its image, in the eyes of both the Russian public and international observers.
Speaking with RIA Novosti, Col. Gen (Ret) Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Moscow-based Academy on Geopolitical Affairs, explained that Shoigu’s tenure has, “first and foremost, restored the fighting capability of the Army and the Navy.”
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