Interfax: Russian Defence Ministry ridicules US concerns over Air Force drill

(Interfax – August 5, 2014) The concerns voiced by US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki about the Russian military exercise at the Ashuluk range in Astrakhan Region are unfounded, a Russian Defence Ministry official spokesman told journalists on Tuesday [5 August].

“People at the Russian Defence Ministry have relished the latest pronouncements by the official spokesperson for the US foreign policy department about the current Air Force exercise in Astrakhan Region and express concern about Mrs Jen Psaki’s lack of basic knowledge of geography,” the spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry [said]. He noted that “the Ashuluk range is known to be located nearly 1,000 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border”.

“Therefore when drafting statements of this kind, before stirring up the world community, it would be useful not only to study reports on social networks but to turn to official sources, such as the Russian Defence Ministry web site on the internet and the atlas of the world,” the Russian Defence Ministry spokesman said. [Passage omitted: Psaki quoted expressing concern about the Russian exercise, saying it escalates tension on the Russian-Ukrainian border.]

The Russian Defence Ministry notes that practical actions by the aviation as part of the bilateral command-post exercise of the Air Force and the air defence are practised in the exercise staged on 4-8 August at the Ashuluk range. The Air Force and air defence drill is held in accordance with the combat training plan for 2014 approved last year. At the first stage of the exercise, aircraft will be redeployed from northern base airfields of the Western Military District to airfields of the Central Military District.

At the second stage, the combat deployment of the aircraft will take place at the Ashuluk range in Astrakhan Region. [Passage omitted: more details of the exercise – see earlier report under the headline “Over 100 aircraft to take part in major Russian air defence drill”.] The exercise is conducted under the command of Air Force Commander in Chief Lt-Gen Viktor Bondarev.