NATO practicing actions to repel Russia’s attack Russia comments on NATO Steadfast Defender exercises

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the NATO Steadfast Defender military exercises, in which 40,000 military personnel from NATO member states will take part in spring 2024, are the training for an “attack on Russia”.

NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercises will be held in several European countries. The Russian Foreign Ministry thinks that through the exercises, the countries are “systematically practising actions within Article 5 of the Washington Collective Defence Treaty", Kommersant reports citing the statement.

“Earlier NATO talked about a certain ‘imaginary’ enemy in the east, now NATO members do not hide that they are practising actions to repel Russia’s attack,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Steadfast Defender is NATO's biggest exercise since the Cold War. The exercises will be held in Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries. The purpose of the exercises is “to practice an attempt to repel Russian aggression directed against a NATO member state”.