Moscow claims it sent about 50,000 soldiers to take part in this year’s Vostok 2022 military exercises even as Ukraine continues launching counteroffensive operations aimed at taking back sections of the country now occupied by Russian forces.
Army and air force units will take part in a number of military exercises across more than a dozen training sites in Russia. China, which has emerged as a strong ally of Russia, is expected to play a major role in Vostok 2022, but India, seen by the U.S. as an important counterweight to China, also will take part in the drills.
Russia has sustained heavy losses after more than six months of combat in Ukraine. Western military analysts doubt it can provide 50,000 troops this week for Vostok 2022.
“It’s unlikely that more than 15,000 personnel will be actively involved this year,” British military intelligence officials said Friday in a Twitter post. “This is around 20% of the forces which participated in the last Vostok exercise in 2018.”
Russia’s large-scale strategic exercises such as Vostok have failed to sustain its military’s ability to conduct complex military operations, British officials said.
“Such events are heavily scripted, do not encourage initiative, and primarily aim to impress Russian leaders and international audiences,” officials said.