Ukraine to Conduct Paratrooper Exercises near Crimea in Response to Russian Actions

The Ukrainian military command plans to hold paratrooper exercises near the administrative border with the temporarily occupied Crimea in March. The main goal of the maneuvers is to improve the ability to timely and adequately respond to a military threat from both the air and the sea coast, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev said.

He stated that various military units will carry out preparatory and practical actions during exercises and trainings to identify and destroy a potential enemy.

“We have completed a significant amount of work to improve the video surveillance system in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Constant training of engineering and sapper units and mobile obstacle detachments, both sea and land, at certain mining lines guarantees the timely completion of tasks to prevent possible landing of paratroopers,” Nayev said.

He also noted that the increase in the Russian military strength in Crimea significantly affects the provision of the local population with water. Currently, about 33,000 Russian servicepersons are deployed on the peninsula and they need about 2.6 million cubic meters of water per year according to the standards of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

The commander did not rule out that the number of Russian military personnel on the peninsula will continue to grow, as Crimea is being turned into a solid military base.

As reported, the command and staff exercises of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, together with the Guards Airborne Assault Caucasian Cossack Regiment from Stavropol and the Guards Artillery Regiment from Anapa, will be held at the Opuk training area in the occupied Crimea in March.

Bohdan Marusyak