Ukrainian Air Force exercises will continue as planned
The aggravation of the situation in the Crimea and the actions of the Russian Armed Forces along the line of demarcation will not impact the planned military exercises of the Ukrainian Air Forces, Sky Shield 2016, that began on August 10th, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated.
"The ongoing military exercises of the Air Force will be not cancelled due to the actions of the Russian military in the region," the head of the press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vladislav Seleznev, told Interfax-Ukraine.
He stressed that these military exercises have been planned. "The military exercises, which began yesterday, are aimed at air cover strategies and the defeating of ground targets. The military exercises were planned and are in no way associated with the aggravation of the situation along the in Crimea", Seleznev said.
According to information published on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, on the 10th of August, 2016 in accordance with the training plan for the Ukrainian Air Force, the practical phase of the troops’ exercises as part of Sky Shield 2016 began in Ukraine.
According to the design of the training program, fighter and bomber aircraft pilots performed some tactical flight exercises designed to consolidate their skills with the Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft.
In addition, anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical units marched to a new combat destination, turned around on the ground and carried out combat duty tasks related to protecting the airspace of the State.
In addition, on the 11th of August, 2016 the press center of the command of the Ukrainian Naval Forces reported that within the southern regions of the country, the complex maneuvers by the marines, the coastal missile units, and artillery troops continued.
The intent of the training program is for the marines and the coast artillery units, with the support of naval aviation and the Ukrainian Air Force, to develop actions to protect and defend critical infrastructure, combat enemy troops from the air, destroy sabotage-intelligence groups, and defend the sea coast.