Russia’s military has shown off its strength in an explosive live-fire drill featuring tanks, mines and rifle-wielding troops.
The large deployment of personnel – including engineers and sappers from the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet – detonated huge bombs during a mock beach landing at the Khmelyovka training ground in Kaliningrad.
The firing range, in a Russian province conquered during the Second World War that borders Nato states Poland and Lithuania, has been used for similar war games in the past.
The large deployment of personnel – including engineers and sappers from the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet – detonated huge bombs during a mock beach landing at the Khmelyovka training ground in Kaliningrad. Pictured: A huge blast at the training site yesterday
The firing range, in a Russian province conquered during the Second World War that borders Nato states Poland and Lithuania, has been used for similar war games in the past. Pictured: A Russian soldier fires his assault rifle on the beach
It comes just days after the commander of the Estonian Defence Forces claimed Russia simulated a ‘large-scale military attack against Nato’ during war games in September. Pictured: Engineers and sappers with the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet training in Europe yesterday
Among the sophisticated technology on display yesterday was a UR-77 Meteorit mine-clearing system (pictured), which was tested out alongside mines buried in the sand
A serviceman pops his head out of a UR-77 Meteorit mine-clearing vehicle during the major drill at the Khmelyovka training ground
Part of the beach at the Khmelyovka training ground in Kaliningrad is blown up in a test explosion as Russian military personnel show off their equipment
A sapper carries two mines across the beach in Kaliningrad during the war games yesterday. The province was taken from the Germans by the Soviet Union during the Second World War
A close-up of a Russian mine as troops plant the explosives in the beach at the Khmelyovka training ground for a huge live-fire exercise
Smoke coming out of a flare on the beach as troops crawl along the sand in an apparent mock landing yesterday
Two young sappers point their assault rifles towards the headland as they move up from the shore during the exercise
A row of troops looking on as three sappers work with wire on the beach in Kaliningrad, which borders Poland and Lithuania
Among the sophisticated technology on display yesterday was a UR-77 Meteorit mine clearing system, which was tested out alongside mines buried in the sand.
Also on show were specialist troops with handheld mine-detection equipment and soldiers armed with assault rifles.
It comes just days after the commander of the Estonian Defence Forces claimed Russia simulated a ‘large-scale military attack against Nato’ during war games in September.
Several sappers armed with assault rifles point their weapons away from the shore as they participate in the training exercise
A Baltic Fleet sapper stretches out his handheld mine-detection device as his comrades crawl along the sand behind him
A flare produces thick black smoke as sappers crawl along the sand in what appears to be a simulation of a landing on a heavily mined beach
A mine explodes underwater during the Navy drill in Russia’s Kaliningrad province yesterday
Russian military personnel work with a UR-83P mobile mine clearing system at the Khmelyovka training ground during a drill yesterday
A massive programme of drills featuring tens of thousands of troops and code named ‘Zapad’ took place near the Belarus capital Minsk in the autumn.
General Riho Terras said the exercises were a simulation of a conflict with the US-led Nato alliance.
The war games, which occur every four years, showed off Russia’s ability to build up its troops with very little notice in case of conflict, Terras said.
A sapper holds a tool while carrying his assault rifle on his back during the training exercise on a European beach yesterday
A mine explodes in the sand just feet from the water at the Khmelyovka training ground yesterday
A huge explosion on the beach in Kaliningrad sends debris flying in all directions as sappers with the Russian Navy demonstrate their skills
A sapper kneels and fires his assault rifle while standing near a flare as his comrades – one holding a mine-detector – crawl behind him
A row of sappers march along a dirt path during the training exercises in Russia’s westernmost province
Troops from the Russian Navy on highlight during the exercise at Khmelyovka training ground yesterday
A sapper plants a mine in the sand before burying it during the beach training session yesterday
Sappers appearing to simulate a landing on the beach in Kaliningrad ready their equipment for the move inland
Two military personnel stand by a UR-77 Meteorit mine-clearing system during the drill in Kaliningrad yesterday
At the time of the simulation, there were fears Moscow was using the training as a cover to station soldiers and equipment in the country.
Gen Terras told German newspaper Bild: ‘Let me be clear: with the exercise Zapad 2017, Russia simulated a large-scale military attack against Nato.
‘It was not targeted towards the Baltic states only, as it was a theatre-wide series of exercises spanning from high North to the Black Sea.
‘The scale and extent of the entire exercise was far greater than officially stated.’