Vostok exercise not to improve Russia’s combat capability - British intelligence

That’s according to the British Ministry of Defense, referring to their defense intelligence, Ukrinform reports.

Despite the war in Ukraine, on September 1, the Russian military started exercise Vostok 22, its annual Joint Strategic Exercise, marking the culmination of the military training year, the ministry reported on Twitter.

“Russia publicly claimed that 450,000 troops will take part, however, it’s unlikely that more than 15,000 personnel will be actively involved this year. This is around 20% of the forces which participated in the last Vostok exercise in 2018,” reads the report.

As noted by military officials, “Russia’s military performance in Ukraine has highlighted that Russia’s military strategic exercises, such as Vostok, have failed to sustain the military’s ability to conduct large scale, complex operations.”

“Such events are heavily scripted, do not encourage initiative, and primarily aim to impress Russian leaders and international audiences,” the report concludes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, British intelligence said that Vladimir Putin’s decree on increasing the number of troops would unlikely help Russia in the war it is waging against Ukraine.