Russia plans to hold strategic military exercises in the east of the country starting next month, the defense ministry said, thousands of miles from the war it is waging in Ukraine.
The "Vostok" (East) exercises will take place from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. They appear intended to send a message that Russia, despite the costly five-month war in Ukraine, remains focused on the defense of its entire territory and capable in military terms of sustaining "business as usual".
In a statement, the ministry emphasized that its capacity to stage such drills was unaffected by what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.