MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry is creating in Crimea a separate unit of the Information Operations Forces, a Defense Ministry source told TASS on Friday.
"The new force unit is planned to be fully deployed in October-November this year," the defence source said.
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According to him, the unit’s mission will be "disruption of potential enemy’s information networks operation with the aim of incapacitating its troop command and control system," as well as "ensuring cybersecurity of the own information networks."
A Russian Defense Ministry source told TASS previously that the Information Operation Forces were created in spring 2014. Their task is to protect Russia’s control and communication systems and reliably secure information passing through them.
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu previously announced the formation of Russia’s self-sufficient group of forces in Crimea. According to him, almost 100 troop groups, military units and organizations were deployed on the peninsula. "On presidential orders we were instructed to deploy a self-sufficient combined group of forces in the Crimean Peninsula capable of effectively protecting the interests of Russia in this area. That task had been fulfilled by the end of 2014. A corresponding report was presented to the supreme commander-in-chief. Ninety six units and organizations were formed," Shoigu said in late March. In particular, he said, "last year, forces of the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets comprising six warships ensured the Russian Navy’s permanent presence in the Mediterranean."
Russian presidential envoy in the Crimean Federal District Oleg Belaventsev said that the peninsula would be turned into "an unassailable fortress."