Thread by @RALee85

Thread: During a meeting of the Board of the MoD today, Shoigu said, "The actions by the United States and its allies are aimed at expanding their influence in the Asia-Pacific Region and weakening the positions of Russia and China in Southeast Asia."
vk.com/mil?z=video-13…

He said this after noting that the military and political situation in Russia’s eastern strategic area continues to escalate. Of course, it is significant that he frames this as the US undermining both Russia and China's interests in the region. 2/
tass.com/defense/1074386

"In order to respond to existing and potential challenges, 62 organizational measures will be conducted in the Eastern Military District this year. The most important of them are the formation of the command of a composite aviation division and an anti-aircraft missile brigade"3/

Other measures Shoigu mentioned to strengthen the forces in Russia's Far East include, the launching of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Project 636.3 diesel submarine, which is supposed to be commissioned by the Pacific Fleet this year. 4/

“Until the end of the year, the district will receive 1,743 pieces of weapons and military hardware. As a result, the share of promising [i.e. modern] samples will be 53%." Shoigu also mentioned the Sino-Russian Maritime Interaction 2019 naval exercise conducted this year. 5/

Shoigu noted the "positive trends in manning the District’s units and formations with contract-enlisted personnel, with more than 4,500 people enlisted in the first half of the year." And >120 bilateral, command and staff, and joint force VVO drills are planned for this year. 6/

He also said, "Now active measures are underway to prepare for bilateral command and staff drills in the Sakhalin and Primorye operational areas." And he mentioned the participation of VVO troops in responding to natural disasters. 7/

"the mil-pol situation in the Western strategic direction remains tense. It is characterized by the strengthening of NATO's mil presence in Eastern Europe, the deployment of US missile defenses in Poland and Romania, and the expansion of mil cooperation with Finland and Sweden."

He added, "We will take comprehensive measures to thwart the emerging threats. More than 20 organizational measures will be held in the Western Military District this year to improve its combat structure, including coastal defense, air defense and logistics troops." 9/

He said more than 1,300 new and modernized pieces of equipment will be delivered to Western Military District units this year, and the District will continue increasing its # of contract servicemen. This year, more than 9,000 people have enlisted. 10/
function.mil.ru/news_page/coun…

Shoigu said the ZVO will focus its efforts this year on holding the Union Shield 2019 Russian-Belarusian exercise, involving 12k troops and 950 pieces of equipment, that will conclude the two-year cycle of joint training. "The drills are solely of a defensive nature."11/

Lastly, Shoigu said that Russian engineers in Syria cleared:
- more than 6,500 hectares of territory,
- 1,400 km of roads,
- 12 km of railway tracks,
- more than 17,000 buildings.
They found and defused more than 150,000 explosive devices including ~31,000 IEDs. 12/