Russia concludes massive military exercises

Russian military has concluded one its largest war games in recent history in the nation’s far eastern and central region, describing the results as more than satisfactory.

The military exercises ended Sunday, according to Russian Defense Ministry officials, who plan to discuss the overall outcome of the drills at a special meeting on Monday, Moscow-based RIA Novosti reports.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the results of the massive maneuvers as “more than satisfactory,” pointing out that there was not a single serious failure during the drills, the report adds.

“Such exercises have not been held since the Soviet era or perhaps even during that period,” Putin is further cited as saying in the report following his helicopter tour of the exercise area on Wednesday, accompanied by said on Wednesday after overflying the exercise area in a helicopter accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The military exercises involved five Russian armies, the Third Air Force and Air Defense Command, including strategic aviation, and the its navy’s Pacific Fleet.

According to Shoigu, nearly 160,000 troops, about 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft and 70 warships participated in what officials have describe as combat readiness drills.

The development comes as Russia has reportedly engaged in a major enhancement of its military forces.

A Russian naval commander announced Thursday that the navy’s Pacific Fleet is due to receive new warships in 2014 for the first time since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.

“Rather large-scale deliveries of new equipment, new warships to the Pacific Fleet will start in 2014,” said Rear Admiral Sergei Avakyants in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV network.

Additionally, according to recent local reports, the Russian military is also building several Steregushchy-class corvette warships for the Pacific Fleet at its Amur shipyard in Russia’s Far East with the estimated delivery date of 2014-2015.

The new additions to the Russian naval fleet comes following plans announced by the US military to drastically increase its naval presence in the Asia Pacific region.

This is while China is also reasserting itself as a major military power, concerned about growing US presence in the region amid its continuing conflict with US-backed Taiwan as well as territorial disputes with Japan, another US ally.