Russia conducts large military exercises, France warns of canceled Mistrals

Russia’s Armed Forces conducted on Aug. 20 a series of widescale military training exercises in various regions of the country that involved thousands of soldiers and several hundred units of military hardware, reported the ITAR-TASS news agency that day. In particular, special exercises were conducted in estimating the scale and consequences from weapons of mass destruction, as well as accidents at radioactively, chemically and biologically dangerous sites. Exercises were also conducted involving anti-aircraft rocket complexes fired by aerospace military units.

The French government may consider canceling the sale of Mistral aircraft carriers to the Russian government should it escalate the conflict in Ukraine, French President Francoise Hollande said in an interview published on Aug. 20 in the Le Monde newspaper. “If additional tensions emerge and it will be impossible to find an exit from the Ukraine crisis, we will have to reconsider the delivery,” he said. “Yet so far it’s not an issue.” The EU sanctions imposed against Russia don’t affect the Mistral sale, he said.

Meanwhile, anti-terrorist operation is continuing in the Donestk and Luhansk regions, with Ukrainian forces currently focused on freeing the regions’ administrative centers and simultaneously blocking the roads that connect these cities with Russia. As the area controlled by the terrorists is decreasing, their concentration on the occupied locations is growing, military experts reported. The Informational Resistance website estimated that currently, Ukrainian citizens account for 40-45% of the total pro-Russian fighters, while the rest are international mercenaries and Russian special forces.

The same day, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema sent a letter to his Russian colleague informing him of crimes committed by Russian citizens who are involved in “the bandit formations the DNR and LNR” separatist forces. The letter contains a list of more than 25 Russian citizens and the evidence of their crimes consists of materials from criminal investigations, court rulings, and reports from international observers, according to Yarema. He asked the Russian government to report on the measures it takes in response to the provided information.

Zenon Zawada: The saber-rattling has begun ahead of the Aug. 26 summit in Minsk involving the leaders of the European Union, the Eurasian Union and Ukraine. Both sides are raising the stakes ahead of possible compromises. If Western and Ukrainian leaders play their cards right, the summit could become a turning point in offering Putin a way to back out of the mess he’s created (assuming that Putin is interested in a peaceful resolution).