NATO member states conduct exercises near Russian borders

NATO member states have initiated a series of exercises near Russia's borders.

A total of 12 drills are planned to be held along the alliance's entire eastern flank, with these military maneuvers set to continue until the end of the fall. Estonia, Finland, Italy, Spain, Latvia, and other countries are among the allies participating in the exercises, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Conducting such large-scale exercises is not new for NATO, and these won't be the biggest ones. The Steadfast Defender exercises, held in May 2024, were the biggest ones since the Cold War. NATO launched its biggest military exercises in the Baltic region, BALTOPS 24, in June 2024 involving 20 allied nations.

Earlier, Colonel Viktor Baranets noted that since the collapse of the USSR, NATO has conducted over 110 various-scale exercises in Europe, with nearly 90 per cent of them taking place near Russia's borders, according to calculations by the Russian General Staff.