Russian Navy Begins Monitoring NATO's BALTOPS 2019 Naval Drills

Russian Navy Begins Monitoring NATO's BALTOPS 2019 Naval Drills

The Russian navy started on Monday to monitor NATO's BALTOPS 2019 naval exercises that had began in the Baltic Sea, the Russian National Defense Management Center reported

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2019) The Russian navy started on Monday to monitor NATO's BALTOPS 2019 naval exercises that had began in the Baltic Sea, the Russian National Defense Management Center reported.

"On June 10, in order to promptly respond to possible emergency situations in the Baltic Sea, the Baltic Fleet started to carry out a set of measures to monitor the joint exercises of the combined naval forces of NATO, dubbed BALTOPS 2019," the center said in a statement.

According to the statement, two naval missile-strike task groups, a search-and-strike group, naval aircraft, as well as the Bastion coastal missile systems are involved in monitoring in designated areas.

The June 9-21 BALTOPS exercise by 18 NATO nations involves 50 surface ships, two submarines, 36 aircraft, and 8,600 personnel in a joint operational environment.

Nations participating in BALTOPS 2019 include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.