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Putin Drills Ground Troops at Doorstep of a Fragile Ukraine Putin Drills Ground Troops at Doorstep of a Fragile Ukraine
(35 minutes later)
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin ordered a surprise military exercise of ground forces in western Russia and air forces across the country on Wednesday, intending to demonstrate the country’s military preparedness amid tensions with Europe and the United States over the turmoil in Ukraine. MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin ordered a surprise military exercise of ground forces on Ukraine’s doorstep Wednesday, intending to demonstrate his country’s military preparedness amid tensions with Europe and the United States over the turmoil gripping Russia’s western neighbor.
Russia’s military put scores of units on alert at 2 p.m. local time for an exercise that is scheduled to last until March 3, the minister of defense, Sergei K. Shoigu, announced, according to news agencies. Mr. Shoigu’s statement cited the need to test the readiness of the armed forces to respond to a “crisis situation,” including a terrorist attack involving biological or chemical weapons. Mr. Putin’s order, which applied to forces in western Russia and air forces across the country, also included unspecified measures to ensure the security of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in southern Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, a region that was a part of Russia until 1954 and is still heavily populated by ethnic Russians.
The order came as thousands of ethnic Russians demonstrated in Crimea’s regional capital of Simferopol, protesting the political upheavals in Kiev that felled the pro-Moscow government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych over the weekend and turned him into a fugitive.
“Crimea is Russian!” some screamed, as brawls erupted with rival demonstrators from Crimea’s ethnic Tatar population who support Kiev’s new interim authorities created by the Parliament.
Facing increased signs of an impending economic default in the former Soviet republic of 46 million, those interim authorities hastened on Wednesday to accelerate the formation of a new government that could reach agreements for more cash and loans. The national currency, the hryvnia, plunged to near a 2008 low of 10 cents.
The interim leaders in Kiev also announced the dissolution of Ukraine’s widely despised Berkut riot police, blamed for many of the shooting deaths of demonstrators during violent clashes last week in Kiev’s central Independence Square.
“Berkut is gone,” the acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, wrote in a Facebook posting.
The Russian military put scores of units on alert at 2 p.m. local time for an exercise that was scheduled to last until March 3, the minister of defense, Sergei K. Shoigu, announced, according to news agencies. Mr. Shoigu’s statement cited the need to test the readiness of the armed forces to respond to a “crisis situation,” including a terrorist attack involving biological or chemical weapons.
Neither Mr. Shoigu nor the Kremlin mentioned the events in Ukraine, which officials here have watched with growing alarm, but the geopolitical message of the snap drill was unmistakable.Neither Mr. Shoigu nor the Kremlin mentioned the events in Ukraine, which officials here have watched with growing alarm, but the geopolitical message of the snap drill was unmistakable.
Russia has refused so far to recognize the legitimacy of the new political powers in Ukraine’s Parliament following the flight of President Viktor F. Yanukovych on Saturday, and officials have denounced the actions of opposition leaders now in control. Russia has refused so far to recognize the legitimacy of the new political powers in Ukraine’s Parliament following the flight of President Yanukovych on Saturday, and officials have denounced the actions of opposition leaders now in control.
Two days ago, Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev said the turmoil posed “a real threat to our interests and to our citizens’ lives and health.”Two days ago, Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev said the turmoil posed “a real threat to our interests and to our citizens’ lives and health.”
In Crimea, historically a part of Russian territory until the Soviet Union ceded it to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine in 1954, ethnic Russians have appealed for the Kremlin’s intervention to protect the region and its population from Ukraine’s opposition leaders. In Crimea, historically a part of Russian territory until the Soviet Union ceded it to the Soviet Social Republic of Ukraine, ethnic Russians have appealed for the Kremlin’s intervention to protect the region and its population from Ukraine’s opposition leaders.
“I think it is flag waving, but it’s more than that also,” Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, said after the announcement of the exercise. “It’s a message to Kiev not to impose its rule in Crimea by force.”“I think it is flag waving, but it’s more than that also,” Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, said after the announcement of the exercise. “It’s a message to Kiev not to impose its rule in Crimea by force.”
Russia’s Western Military District — one of four across the country — stretches along the border of northeastern Ukraine and includes the 6th and 20th Armies, with tens of thousands of soldiers. The exercise will also involve the 2nd Army in the Central Military District, as well as airborne, aerospace and military transport commands.Russia’s Western Military District — one of four across the country — stretches along the border of northeastern Ukraine and includes the 6th and 20th Armies, with tens of thousands of soldiers. The exercise will also involve the 2nd Army in the Central Military District, as well as airborne, aerospace and military transport commands.