US, Russia hold parallel military drills in the Balkans

Serbia and Russia launched joint military exercises near Serbia’s capital Thursday as U.S.-led forces held massive drills in neighboring Balkan states in what appeared to be Moscow’s resolve to maintain influence in the European region torn by wars during the 1990s.

The Serbian and Russian defense ministries said the joint training of some 200 special troops will include “the destruction of an illegal military formation,” live ammunition shooting and “anti-terrorist” action. The drills will last through May 25, the ministries said.

The exercises at a training ground near Belgrade comes as large-scale U.S. Army-led drills dubbed DEFENDER-Europe 2021 are held across Europe, including in most of the nations that neighbor Serbia.

The U.S. Army has said that the joint exercises which include approximately 28,000 multinational troops are “designed to build readiness and interoperability between U.S., NATO and partner militaries.”