NATO holds large-scale drills near Russia’s border

Accordingly, NATO’s “Defender Europe 2022” and “Swift Response 2022” exercises will be held in 9 countries, including Poland, from May 1 to May 27.

A statement from the Polish Ministry of Defense said: “There will be about 18,000 soldiers from more than 20 countries participating in both exercises. Operations taking place on Polish territory involved 7,000 soldiers and 3,000 military equipment.

“Defender Europe” is a regular US-led multilateral exercise aimed at “Building preparedness and operational interoperability among allies and partners” of NATO and Washington. This year’s drills will be held in several areas in Poland. In addition to Poland, troops participating in the exercise will come from the US, France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the UK.

Meanwhile, according to the Polish Ministry of Defense, about 550 Polish troops will be deployed to Lithuania and Latvia to participate in the “Swift Response” exercise, along with soldiers from the Czech Republic and a joint force of Poland. Germany and the Netherlands.

“Combined exercises like these help strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank, in line with NATO standards and procedures.” The Polish Ministry of Defense emphasized, at the same time that the exercises are also aimed at strengthening the preparation of the bloc “to respond to emerging challenges on the battlefield today”.

The Polish Ministry of Defense said that both the exercises “Defender Europe 2022” and “Swift Response 2022” “It is not directed against any country and has nothing to do with the current geopolitical situation in the region.”

Earlier, Sergei Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, accused Warsaw of preparing to deploy troops to western Ukraine, an area that Poland considers “historically Poland’s.” Naryshkin said that the possibility of “reunification” of Western Ukraine into Poland will take place under the guise of deploying “peacekeepers” to Ukraine under the pretext of protecting Ukraine from the Russian military campaign. However, Warsaw denied this allegation.

For years, Russia has expressed concern about NATO’s expansion to the east, which is seen as a direct threat to Moscow’s security. This factor along with the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO are considered by Moscow to be the main reasons for launching a military campaign against the neighboring country.