Russia undertaking surprise military drills

The Russian Defense Ministry launched a major surprise military exercise in the country's south in Monday to convey both its combat preparedness and to once again showcase its military strength.

The exercise put soldiers in Russia's south on alert in areas which include Russia's border with eastern Ukraine, a region where Russia has been supporting separatist movements from Kiev.

The secretary general of the NATO alliance Jens Stoltenberg has remarked that Russian military exercises these days have reached heights not seen since the latter days of the Cold War, pointing out that Russia has held no fewer than 18 major exercises in the last three years.

The New York Times points out that this latest surprise exercise comes at the start of planned talks held between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine over the crisis in Ukraine's east.

A Russian military analyst quoted by the Gazeta.ru news site claimed the maneuvers were meant to send "a little signal" to Turkey, whose relations with Russia have been severely strained by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane in Syria last November.

The report also pointed out that many Russian jets deployed in the south are of the same kind deployed to Syria. Which suggests that they could easily be dispatched for operations in Syria where Russian air power is helping the Syrian military undertake an offensive against opposition-held areas in Aleppo.