The Russian Ministry of Defense has decided to form a new combined armed army. The newspaper writes about it “News” citing sources in the military department.
According to the publication, the association will be deployed on a corps basis and will cover Russia on its northern borders, including Finland and Norway.
It was stated that the combined armed army will include motorized rifle brigades, regiments and divisions, whose personnel will be trained in combat operations in Arctic conditions.
As noted in the material, before the military reforms of the beginning of the last decade, the northwest direction was part of the responsibility area of the Leningrad Military District (LenVO), and there were no armies and divisions in it. composition – only separate brigades. During the reform, LenVO was merged with the Moscow Military District (MVO), creating the Western Military District (ZVO). However, units and formations located in the Arctic are structurally part of the Northern Fleet.
Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov noted that as long as Sweden and Finland are conditionally neutral countries, there is no need to maintain large military forces in the Arctic. However, the expert believes that it is necessary to strengthen the northwest direction, now that Finland has joined NATO and Sweden is on its way.
Political scientist and expert of the “Club of Regions” Petr Kolchin, since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, the Northern Fleet received a new series of assignments As NATO’s expansion in the Scandinavian region increases the pressure of the West on the Arctic and targets. He stressed that the fleet now needs to take measures to more actively protect the borders.
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