Russian Deputy Defense Minister inspects Russian military units in Crimea
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov visited annexed Crimea to inspect the military units, Russia’s Interfax reported.
“The Deputy Minister inspected the condition of the car park, barracks, canteen and other military administration facilities of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade and the 126th Coastal Defense Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet,” Interfax cites a defense ministry official as saying.
According to him, Bulgakov also inspected the results of the diagnostics and the commissioning of the tunnels to store fuels and lubricants in the Mekenziev Heights in Crimea.
“Your task this year is to carry out diagnostics and check everything. By the end of November, the tunnels must be renovated and calibrated,” Bulgakov said.
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of Russia’s General Staff, said on November 7 that a full-fledged group of forces has been created in Crimea.
According to him, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been reinforced with six submarines, the frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen, which are armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as three divisions of Bal and Bastion coastal missile defense systems.
At the start of November, Aleksandr Dvornikov, commander of the forces of Russia’s Southern Military District, said that the intensity of the military exercises of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla, as well as the number of artillery shots and missiles fired, has increased by a third this year.
Following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has been conducting regular military exercises on the peninsula. The General Staff of Ukraine says that the exercises are illegal.