Russia and Belarus will hold a huge joint military exercise next month, officially involving almost 13,000 soldiers.
The Kremlin revealed today almost 700 “pieces of military hardware” will be used in the Zapad 2017 war games, which begin on September 14.
The week-long operation will take place in Belarus, sparking concerns in neighbouring Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine of a possible invasion.
The Kremlin today dismissed these claims and said the drills would be purely defensive in nature. It described invasion claims as “false allegations”.
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said the drills would be in line with international rules – however observers have expressed concerns.
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will closely watch the exercises and has called for them to be held in an open and legal manner.
It has also been noted how the total of troops involved falls just short of the 13,000 threshold at which independent observers must be invited.
In reality, experts believe at least 60,000 and as many as 100,000 troops will actually take part in the drill.
The US has sent 600 soldiers to Europe as a precaution.
Lt. Gen. Frederick B. Hodges said: “Look, we’ll be ready; we’ll be prepared.”
And he dismissed claims the drills were only defensive in nature, pointing to the military equipment and groups involved.
He said: “There is only one reason you would create a Guards Tank Army, and that is as an offensive striking force.
“This is not something for homeland security. That does not mean that they are automatically going to do it, but in terms of intimidation it is a means of putting pressure on allies.”
Belarussian Deputy Defence Minister Oleg Belokonev said on Tuesday that all troops and equipment brought into Belarus for the war games would be withdrawn afterwards.
It comes at a time of heightened tension across the globe with America and South Korea recently holding their own military drills.
These exercises also sparked concerns of an invasion – although this belief was only expressed by paranoid despot Kim Jong-un in North Korea.