Russia Runs Bombing Drills on Own Airfields amid NATO Fears

Russia has carried out drills to simulate military airfield restoring capabilities should they come under attack, including from NATO forces, according to a local newspaper.

Sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense told Izvestia that the drills, which were carried out in multiple regions, involved special forces of the Russian army working on the restoration of military airfields after "massive attacks." They sealed up craters and rebuilt runways, the sources said.

The development comes amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia over President Vladimir Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials have routinely insinuated that Moscow could attack NATO members for providing Ukraine with assistance. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in December 2022 that such countries could be "legitimate military targets."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment by email.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, also warned last month that NATO's decision to launch its largest military exercise in more than 35 years could provoke "military incidents". He was referring to NATO's operation dubbed "Steadfast Defender 2024," which will involve around 90,000 troops, and is set to run through May.

Russian military expert Vasily Dandykin told the newspaper that Moscow must protect its airfields from Ukrainian drones.

"Based on the experience of the Northern Military District, many points can be taken into account: how to protect aircraft from the same drones, how to cover them, how to provide airfields with electronic warfare equipment," Dandykin said.

Dandykin said NATO's military activity should also be taken into account, referring to Steadfast Defender 2024. It marks the largest number of troops used by NATO in a military drill since the Cold War, when 125,000 soldiers were used in a 1988 exercise dubbed "Reforger."

U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, who serves as supreme allied commander Europe for NATO, said on January 18 that the operation will demonstrate how U.S. troops could reinforce European allies "during a simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary."

"We must also take into account the fact that right now NATO maneuvers are taking place near our borders with the participation of 90,000 people, a large number of ships and aircraft," said Dandykin of the NATO drills.

"They have also become more active in the Arctic. And there are also our airfields - we deploy them, restore them, and return to where we left before. Therefore, we must be prepared for anything. Enemies say that they are doing all this 'to repel Russian aggression,' but in reality they mean something else," added Dandykin.

Moscow's Grushko warned in January that an "exercise of this scale...marks the final and irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes, when the military planning process, resources and infrastructure are being prepared for confrontation with Russia."

He warned that "any events of this scale significantly increase the risk of military incidents and further destabilize the security situation."

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