On Friday, March 19, as part of a large-scale command and staff exercise, the occupiers deployed more than 350 servicemen to the territory of the occupied Crimea. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry.
“As part of the beginning active phase of a large-scale command and staff exercise with the guards airborne assault and artillery regiments of the Novorossiysk guards airborne assault mountain formation, deployed in a combined way to the territory of the Crimean peninsula from the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, more parachuting was carried out and three BMD-2K-AU airborne combat vehicles from 7 Il-76md aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Opuk training ground in the Republic of Crimea”,- the message said.
We remind that military exercises, propaganda of military service and conscription into the ranks of the armed forces of the Russian Federation are regularly held in the occupied Crimea. The Russian military exercises are destroying the ecosystem of the peninsula and are a flagrant violation of international law.
Earlier, NATO in its statement on Crimea condemned Russia's ongoing large-scale military build-up in Crimea and expressed concern over Russia's efforts and announced plans to further build up military power in the Black Sea region.