{"id":67723,"date":"2018-08-20T15:45:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T15:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/20\/russian-military-on-alert-for-massive-war-games-said-to-be-the-largest-since-soviet-games-in-the-80s\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:41:59","slug":"russian-military-on-alert-for-massive-war-games-said-to-be-the-largest-since-soviet-games-in-the-80s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/08\/20\/russian-military-on-alert-for-massive-war-games-said-to-be-the-largest-since-soviet-games-in-the-80s\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian military on alert for massive war games said to be the largest since Soviet games in the \u201980s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MOSCOW \u2014 Russia\u2019s military forces<\/a> in the country\u2019s east were put on high alert Monday ahead of massive war games that also involve China and Mongolia, the largest show of power in nearly 40 years<\/a>, the Russian defense minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the five days of military drills will pave the way for the Vostok (East) 2018 military exercise. Shoigu said those maneuvers, set for next month, will be the largest since the massive Soviet war games in 1981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin <\/a>spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said President Vladimir Putin could attend the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the top Russian military brass, Shoigu said army, air force and navy units will take part in the exercise that will be held across the Far East and Siberia. He added that military units from China and Mongolia will also take part.<\/p>\n\n\n\t