Author: David Batashvili, Research Fellow at the Rondeli Foundation

Rondeli Russian Military Digest is a weekly brief that reports key activities by and developments within the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Researchers, civil servants and everyone else interested in what is going on in the military of one of the most dangerous nations on the planet – tune in and enjoy.

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Geostrategic Activities

War in Ukraine – Three Ukrainian military service members were killed and 15 were wounded by the Russian hybrid forces on the Donbas frontline during the week of 23-29 August 2021.

War in Syria – Russian air force conducted strikes in the Syrian rebel-held Idlib region on 23, 25, 26, 27 and 29 August 2021.

Russian air defense units arrived in Grodno, Belarus, reportedly to establish a joint military training center for the air and air defense forces.

Russia in Africa – Russia and Nigeria signed military cooperation agreement “providing a legal framework for the supply of equipment and the training of troops.”

 

Structural Changes

Russian navy has reportedly completed the transfer of the Caspian Flotilla’s forces from the Astrakhan naval base to the Kaspiysk naval base.

A new airfield for transport aircraft was established near the city of Rubtsovsk in Altai Krai.

 

Rearmament and Modernization

An “experimental batch” of T-14 Armata tanks reportedly has been sent to the Russian armed forces.

Artillery units of the 201st Military Base (a mechanized division with HQ in Dushanbe, Tajikistan) received a batch of Kornet man-portable anti-tank guided missiles.

 

Exercises*

About 10,000 Russian troops from the command and control and material and technical support units of the Southern Military District conducted exercises in various administrative regions of southern Russia and the North Caucasus as well as in Armenia and occupied regions of Crimea (Ukraine), Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (Georgia).

The 102nd Special Purpose Detachment of the Black Sea Fleet’s Sevastopol naval base and the engineer troops of the same Fleet held exercises in occupied Crimea, Ukraine.

A photo from the 102nd Special Purpose Detachment’s exercise in occupied Crimea

Russian air defense units in occupied Abkhazia, Georgia, including S-300PM surface-to-air missile systems, held an exercise.

 

Arms Exports

Turkey was reported to be in the final stages to sign a new deal for acquiring more of the Russian S-400 air defense systems.

According to a Russian official, the first delivery of a regiment’s batch of S-400 systems to India will take place before the end of 2021.

 


*The weekly number of exercises in the Russian armed forces is very large. Therefore, all cannot be included in this digest. The exercises that are included are selected by the author for their strategic significance, particularly large scale, involvement of numerous units and locations, and/or involvement of other nations’ territories under the Russian occupation.