Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began to show off strength by holding massive military exercises near the border RussiaEstonia on Monday (16/5).
The exercise, called Hedgehog 2022, is the largest military exercise in the history of the Baltic nation. The situation is also said to be getting hotter considering the exercise is close to Russian territory.
The 2022 Hedgehog involves around 15,000 troops from 14 countries, including NATO members and their partners including Finland, Sweden, Georgia and Ukraine.
The drills will cover all branches of the armed forces and involve air, sea and land exercises. In addition, there will be cyber warfare training.
According to an official NATO statement, the military exercise will also include the US Navy’s ‘Kearsarge’ Wasp-class landing craft in the exercise.
The drills come amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Swedish-Finnish decision to consider joining NATO.
However, NATO and the deputy commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, Major General Veiko-Vello Palm, denied the exercise was related to the Russian attack on Ukraine.
According to Western officials, the drills were said to have been planned long before the conflict in Ukraine broke out.
The military exercises in Estonia are just one part of NATO’s large-scale military activities taking place near the Russian border.
Another Baltic nation, Lithuania, is hosting the Iron Wolf military exercise, which involves 3,000 NATO troops and 1,000 military equipment, including German Leopard 2 tanks.
Two of NATO’s largest drills, ‘Defender Europe’ and ‘Swift Response’, are taking place in Poland and eight other countries. The exercise involved 18,000 troops from 20 countries.
“Exercises like this show that NATO stands strong and is ready to protect our country and defend against any threat,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu was quoted as saying. Russia Today News on Monday (16/5).
He then asserted, “[Latihan ini juga] help reduce any miscalculations or misunderstandings about our determination to protect and defend every inch of allied territory.”
Eastern European countries that will host NATO military exercises, read on next page…
Eastern European Countries To Host NATO Exercises
–
–
