The ‘Iron Sword 2016’ military drills, which are being held close to the Russian border, involve 4,000 troops from Britain, the US, Germany, Canada, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Luxembourg and three baltic states.
They are intended to last until December 2 and will prepare Nato to station 4,000 alliance troops in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – a decision taken at the Warsaw summit in July.
According to the Lithuanian defence ministry, the tests will be carried out in the towns of Rukla and Pabrade, close to the Kaliningrad region – a Russian exclave located between Poland and Lithuania.
The military alliance’s decision to boost its global army presence follows Russia’s deployment of S-400 air defence systems and Iskander missile launchers to the Kaliningrad. Läs artikel