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One day after NATO and Ukraine launched military exercises in the Black Sea, Moscow has announced that it has tested Crimean air defense systems.
Russia has reportedly tested the readiness of air defense systems in Crimea, an apparent show of strength as Ukraine and NATO countries conduct military drilling in the Black Sea as part of the Sea Breeze 2021 exercise.
Russia deployed about 20 warplanes and helicopters, including bombings of the Su-24M, as well as tests of S-400 and Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems, Interfax reported on Tuesday, citing Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
It was not clear when the tests were performed.
“The Black Sea Fleet is doing a number of things to monitor the actions of ships involved in NATO and the 2021 Sea Breeze,” the National Defense Management Center said in a statement.
Russia has called for a halt to 21 military exercises since 1997, and the Russian Defense Ministry has said it will react if necessary to ensure national security.
The Sea Breeze 2021, which began on Monday, will last two weeks and will involve about 5,000 military personnel from NATO member states and other allies of the transatlantic security alliance.
The United States Marine Corps will take part, as well as about 30 U.S. ships and 40 aircraft, including the USS Ross missile destroyers.
Oleksiy Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian navy, said at the inauguration ceremony of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa that the exercises would send “a strong message to maintain stability and peace in our region”.
Ukraine is an ally of NATO, but not a member.
Moscow has warned the US and the UK of their “tempting fate”
Russia on Monday denounced the “size and aggressiveness” of the simulacra, which “hardly help security” in the Black Sea region.
Military exercises and Russian tests come amid high tensions between Moscow and Western powers.
The situation worsened last week over the June 23 debate over the Black Sea in Russia and the United Kingdom.
Moscow has said it has fired warning shots and dropped bombs on the route of a British warship HMS Defender to expel it from the Black Sea coast of Crimea, Russia added in 2014 from Ukraine.
Moscow believes Crimea is Russian territory, but the peninsula is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine that wants to retreat.
The United Kingdom denied account of the incident in Russia, and the destroyer of the Royal Army said it was making a regular trip from an internationally accepted route and was in Ukrainian waters near Crimea.
All the shots fired were pre-announced in Russia’s “artillery exercise” and no bombs were dropped, the UK said.
Moscow later warned NATO members against the “tempting fate” of NATO and the US by sending warships to the Black Sea, saying it would defend its borders by all possible means, including military force.
The latest frictions add to the list of conflicts between Moscow and Western powers.
The two sides are divided on several issues, including the situation in Ukraine, where government forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country since 2014, including Belarus, human rights, gun control, electoral interference, cyber hacking. and NATO’s role in European affairs.
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