State Border Service: Russia Begins Exercises Aimed At Improving Battle Readiness Of Russian Black Sea Fleet Units In Crimea

The Russian Armed Forces have begun exercises aimed at improving the battle readiness of units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Russia-annexed Crimea.

The State Border Service’s head Oleh Slobodian announced this at a news briefing, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The conduct of planned combat training of military units of the Russian Armed Forces was noticed on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea over the past week. In particular, training aimed at bringing units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to the highest degree of combat readiness is taking place," he said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the State Border Service registered the flights of three Russian helicopters and a balloon on the administrative border with Crimea on February 16.