MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. Russian specialists will inspect firing ranges in Italy that are hosting NATO’s Trident Juncture drills, the biggest in the past 13 years, chief of Russia’s national centre for reducing nuclear threat Sergei Ryzhkov said on Monday.
"As part of the implementation of the 2011 Vienna document on trust-building measures, a Russia team of inspectors plans to conduct an inspection in Italy in a period from October 26 through 29, 2015," he said.
"The inspection is tasked to establish the scale of the military activities subject to notification or prove no such activities subject to preliminary notification are conducted in an area of 18,000 square metres," he said. "Russian inspectors will visit testing grounds and will be briefed by the military command about the Trident Juncture drills on the Island of Sardinia."
The field phase of the Trident Juncture strategic drills, the biggest ones on the past 13 years, started on October 21. The exercises will be held at 16 military bases and firing ranges in three NATO countries, namely Spain, Italy and Portugal and in western Mediterranean and Spain’s Atlantic coast and in the airspace over these zones. The drills involve 36,000 servicemen, 140 warplanes and up to 90 submarines and warships from 30 countries, including Austria and Sweden that are not NATO members. The drill will be complete on November 6.