Russia invites China to join its biggest war games for 40 years as it prepares for conflict
Military drills on this scale have not been carried out by Moscow since the early 1980s when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war
RUSSIA’S military forces have been placed on high alert on the eve of the biggest war games since the dark days of the Cold War.
More than 100,000 personnel and thousands of tanks, jets, choppers and warships are set to team up with Chinese forces in east Siberia to form a deadly fighting force.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has revealed military forces are today mobilising to pave the way for what is called Vostok 2018 military drills.
This will be the largest show of force since the massive Soviet war games that unnerved the world back in the early 1980s.
Recent drills have seen about 150,000 servicemen, 1,500 tanks, 120 aircraft and 70 naval vessels taking part in mock invasions, but the latest war games are set to be even bigger.
The monster exercise is bound to spook NATO military bosses because Russia launched huge military drills before invading Georgia in 2008 and annexing Crimea in 2014.
According to the , Viktor Litovkin, a Russian military analyst, told state media: "This is the unique ability of our armed forces: to move such numbers of troops from one end of the country to the other.
"As far as mobilisation is concerned we are superior to any other army in the world."
Meanwhile the Chinese defence ministry said the drills were aimed at cementing its military partnership with the Kremlin as well as boosting the two countries' ability to respond jointly during a war.
China's decision to take part comes amid growing tensions with the US and its Asian allies who are furious at Beijing’s takeover of the South China Sea by building military bases on artificial islands.
The Russian military has increased both the scope and frequency of its manoeuvres amid tensions with the West.
President Vladimir Putin - who has described the re-arming of his nation as a "priority"- wants to have one million serving personnel by 2020.
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Putin wants to swell the ranks from the current 750,000. It is understood 2,300 new tanks, 1,200 new helicopters and planes are in the pipeline.
Some 50 new naval vessels and 28 submarines have been ordered while the country is also modernising its nuclear arsenal and air defences.
In September it was revealed that Russia practised a full-scale mock invasion of the West that included capturing Baltic states, bombing Germany and invading neutral countries.
The terrifying war drills featured troops, artillery, tanks, missile attacks and naval and air force raids.
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