Military expert Leonkov — on the exercises of the Russian Federation: this is a response to the threat from NATO
Russia has begun preparations for exercises with missile formations of the Southern Military District involving aviation and the Navy in response to the threat from NATO. On Monday, May 6, military analyst, editor of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland Alexey Leonkov told Izvestia.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that during the exercise, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
"Firstly, the combat readiness of any arsenal needs to be checked. Secondly, it is a kind of signal to those countries that believe that Russia is unable to use these types of weapons if there is a so-called existential, immediate threat. Therefore, such exercises will be held," Leonkov said.
The expert pointed out that statements about the possible dispatch of troops to Ukraine are increasingly being heard in the West. Thus, the French Foreign Legion takes part in the fighting.
"Initially, France stated that the French Legion would not take part in hostilities, that they would be somewhere on the border to replace Ukrainian units on the border with Belarus. And then it turned out that they appeared in the area of Slavyansk. Their location was hit by our planning aerial bombs, that is, this is nothing more than a direct conflict between France and Russia. It's already on the verge. France is a nuclear power. And, of course, when a nuclear power begins to interfere in a conflict, the fighting takes on a completely different character," he said.
According to the interlocutor of the publication, in order to keep the "madman Macron" (the president of France. — Ed.) from further steps, it is necessary to show him that Russia is ready for any development of the situation.
Leonkov also noted that an armored division of the Bundeswehr is permanently stationed on the territory of Lithuania.
"They say that the American division will be stationed there next, that is, we understand that this is a completely different approach. What they call deterrence is no longer deterrence, it is already preparation for an armed conflict against the background of the conversations that are currently going on in the foreign media. There are politicians who say that it is necessary to prepare for war with Russia, although Russia has never said that it is going to capture anyone," he concluded.
On May 2, French President Emmanuel Macron once again did not rule out the possibility of sending troops from Europe to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called such conversations very dangerous. Macron's words were also criticized in France, Italy, Great Britain, Hungary and Slovakia.
On December 19 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was not going to fight with Europe, it did not need NATO countries. He pointed out that the United States scares Europe with Russia only so that European countries pay money to the alliance. Washington "deliberately dragged us and Europe into the conflict," and now shifts the burden of financial payments to the EU countries, the head of state added.
