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Military drills

Defense chief refutes West’s baseless fears of Zapad-2017’s alleged ‘aggressive nature’

"The units’ efforts were aimed at isolating terrorist threats, fighting armed and subversive groups, guarding and protecting important facilities," says the Russian defense minister

© Viktor Drachev/TASS

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Fears about the supposed aggressive nature of the Zapad-2017 exercises expressed in the Western media did not come true, since the drills were purely defensive, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a video conference on Friday.

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Zapad-2017 exercise puts Russian army’s "nervous system" to test

"Western media outlets were whipping up some very incredible and frightening scenarios of the (Zapad-2017 - TASS) exercises. At some point, some officials, among them certain state leaders, even called them a prelude to the seizure of foreign territories," Shoigu said.

"All these lies were exposed right after the end of the exercises, which were purely defensive," the defense minister stressed. He noted that preparations for the Russian-Belarusian drills proceeded amid "unprecedented media pressure."

"The units’ efforts were aimed at isolating terrorist threats, fighting armed and subversive groups, guarding and protecting important facilities," Shoigu emphasized.

He added that the Zapad-2017 drills were held in accordance with the requirements of the Vienna Document of 2011.

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Military drills

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