Get real:
President Vladimir Putin has surprised Russian military leaders by issuing a snap order to initiate immediate Black Sea war games – which experts say is a sign that the country's armed forces are becoming capable of defending the country on, literally, a moment's notice.
The command was delivered in a sealed envelope to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at 4 a.m. Thursday morning, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
A note posted on Mr. Putin's official website said the exercises will be held in the Black Sea, and involve "up to 7,000 military personnel, over 30 warships based in Sevastopol and Novorossiisk, aviation, rapid deployment airborne troops, marines and the special forces of the General Staff.... The exercises' main objective is to assess combat readiness and coordination among the various branches of the Armed Forces."
PhotoShop won't be involved, but this is for propaganda purposes abroad and domestically. There is no way that the Black Sea Fleet has readiness levels capable of supporting short-notice drills.
But I'm sitting in Michigan and I have perhaps a little too much cynicism regarding this. I eagerly await Strategypage's take on these exercises.
