Russia launches paratroop exercise east of Ukraine. Moscow tycoons move assets from West to Far East

Wednesday, March 12, 2014
By Paul Martin

DEBKAfile
March 11, 2014

The clash between the antagonists in the Ukraine crisis – Russia on one side and the US and Europe on the other – is heating up in the countdown to the Crimean referendum on secession on Sunday March 16.
Tuesday, March 11, as European ministers discussed sanctions against Russia, Moscow launched its biggest military exercise in 20 years. It encompasses command elements, rapid deployment forces and paratroops and takes place in western Russia not far from the Ukraine border.
The Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt.-Col. Evgeni Meshkov said, “One of the key objectives of the exercise is to show how effective tactical landing force can be in different latitudes and conditions.” He reported that the Ivanovo paratroops’ formation of 4,000 troops and 36 military air transports would take part in the maneuver.
Also this week, DEBKAfile reported that the Russian army had moved mobile coastal defense batteries from the Russian base of Novorossiysk to its Crimean base of Sevastopol. The K-300Ps (Nato codenamed SSC-5), the most advanced of their kind, were deployed for any contingency such as fighting off naval units or repelling landing forces.

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