Russia Holds Biggest War Games in Decades . . .

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin, kiri, berjabat tangan dengan ketua tentera Rusia itu Kakitangan Am Valery Gerasimov, kanan, di sebuah lapangan terbang Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa Julai 16, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with chief of Russia's military's General Staff Valery Gerasimov, right, at an airport of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

People’s Voices - MOSCOW (AP) ‘Rusia Memegang Mainan Perangan Terbesar Dalam Dekad’ Presiden Vladimir Putin pada Selasa menyaksikan gerakan tentera terbesar Rusia sejak zaman Soviet, yang melibatkan 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal di seluruh Siberia dan rantau timur jauh dalam menunjukkan besar kekuatan ketenteraan kebangkitan negara.

Puluhan kapal Armada Pasifik Rusia dan 130 pesawat tempur juga mengambil bahagian dalam latihan tersebut, yang bermula pada hari Jumaat dan terus melalui minggu ini. Putin menyaksikan beberapa latihan di Pulau Sakhalin di Pasifik, di mana beribu-ribu tentera telah diangkut dan diterbangkan dari tanah besar.

Timbalan Menteri Pertahanan Rusia Anatoly Antonov yakin tentera asing melekat pada Isnin bahawa senaman itu adalah sebahagian daripada latihan tempur biasa dan tidak ditujukan kepada mana-mana negara tertentu, walaupun beberapa penganalisis percaya menunjukkan daya bertujuan China dan Jepun.

Konstantin Sivkov, seorang pegawai bersara Staf Jeneral tentera Rusia, memberitahu Nezavisimaya harian Gazeta bahawa sebahagian Sakhalin daripada gerakan itu bertujuan untuk meniru tindak balas kepada serangan yang dibayangkan oleh Jepun dan Amerika Syarikat.

Rusia dan Jepun mempunyai pertikaian ke atas sekumpulan pulau-pulau Pasifik, yang menyeru Rusia dan Jepun Kurils panggilan Wilayah Utara. Pulau di hujung timur laut Pulau Hokkaido Jepun telah dirampas oleh tentera Soviet pada hari-hari penutupan Perang DUNIA II. Mereka dikelilingi oleh kawasan menangkap ikan yang kaya dan dipercayai mempunyai rizab gas asli dan minyak luar pesisir dan sumber mineral yang lain.

Antonov berkata bahawa Rusia telah memberi amaran kepada negara-negara jiran dalam latihan sebelum ia bermula, dan menyediakan maklumat terperinci terutamanya ke China selaras dengan perjanjian yang membayangkan pertukaran bersama data mengenai aktiviti ketenteraan di sepanjang sempadan 4,300 kilometer (2,700 batu).

2 musuh perang era Dingin telah dipalsukan apa yang mereka digambarkan sebagai "perkongsian strategik" selepas tahun 1991 kejatuhan Soviet, membangunkan hubungan rapat politik, ekonomi dan ketenteraan dalam aspirasi yang dikongsi bersama untuk melawan kuasa Amerika Syarikat di seluruh DUNIA.

Rusia telah membekalkan senjata canggih ke China, dan jiran-jiran telah menjalankan latihan ketenteraan bersama, yang paling baru-baru ini satu latihan tentera laut di Laut Jepun awal bulan ini. Tetapi walaupun hubungan ekonomi rapat dan kerjasama ketenteraan, ramai di Rusia berasa semakin tidak selesa kira-kira kekuatan yang semakin meningkat jiran timur gergasi.

Beberapa bimbang bahawa penurunan penduduk Rusia yang berterusan dan kelemahan relatif kuasa konvensional berbanding dengan Tentera Pembebasan Rakyat China satu hari boleh menggoda China untuk merebut wilayah tertentu.

Rusia dan China mempunyai pertikaian wilayah selama berabad-abad. Hubungan antara Komunis China dan Kesatuan Soviet pecah pada tahun 1960, dan kedua-dua gergasi berjuang konflik sempadan ringkas pada tahun 1969. Moscow dan Beijing menandatangani perjanjian sempadan baru pada tahun 2004, yang menyaksikan Rusia berhasil kawalan ke atas beberapa pulau-pulau di Sungai Amur itu. Beberapa di Rusia yang jarang penduduk timur jauh takut bahawa konsesi boleh mengusik selera China.

Alexander Khramchikhin, seorang penganalisis bebas ketenteraan yang berpusat di Moscow, berkata bahawa latihan besar-besaran yang diadakan di kawasan-kawasan di sepanjang sempadan dengan China jelas bertujuan Beijing. "Ia adalah jelas bahawa sebahagian darat menjalankan ditujukan di China, manakala laut dan pulau itu sebahagian daripada ia bertujuan Jepun," katanya.

Khramchikhin, yang baru-baru ini mencatatkan artikel lukisan gambaran suram Rusia yang cepat dihantar dalam serangan mengejut Cina, berkata bahawa permainan perang bertujuan untuk menghalang China dari melindungi plot peluasan.

"China kini boleh berfikir bahawa Rusia telah akhirnya menjadi lebih sedar tentang apa yang boleh berlaku," katanya sambil menyifatkan latihan sebagai isyarat yg menenangkan. Gerakan adalah sebahagian daripada usaha-usaha baru-baru ini untuk meningkatkan pergerakan tentera dan kesediaan pertempuran selepas tahun penurunan pasca-Soviet, tetapi mereka telah jauh melebihi latihan sebelumnya di kedua-dua jumlah dan skop wilayah.

Sebagai sebahagian daripada mainan perang diadakan di beberapa zon masa, beberapa unit tentera dikerahkan ke kawasan beribu-ribu kilometer dari pangkalan mereka. Pasukan payung diterbangkan seluruh Rusia dalam pesawat pengangkutan jarak jauh, dan beberapa unit telah diangkut untuk Sakhalin di bawah pengiring kapal tentera laut dan jet pejuang.

Satu dekad krisis ekonomi pasca-Soviet telah teruk melumpuhkan keupayaan ketenteraan Rusia, asas jet dan meninggalkan kapal tentera laut berkarat di pelabuhan kerana kekurangan dana untuk menjalankan latihan. Rasuah besar-besaran dan ganas membuli askar muda oleh tentera yang lebih tua telah terhakis semangat dan digalakkan meluas draf-mengelak.

Kelemahan tentera sekali-bangga telah ditunjukkan dalam 2 peperangan pemisah di Chechnya apabila tentera Rusia mengalami kerugian besar di tangan pemberontak bersenjata ringan. Tentera Rusia menang cepat dalam perang dengan tentera kecil Georgia pada Ogos 2008, tetapi konflik 5 hari juga mendedahkan bahawa tentera mempunyai masalah dengan cepat menggerakkan tenteranya ke kawasan itu. Kekurangan senjata ketepatan dan komunikasi moden juga jelas.

Kremlin bertindak balas dengan melancarkan reformasi tentera bertujuan untuk menjadikan tentera kembung berkuat kuasa yang lebih moden dan tangkas. Kerajaan juga telah melancarkan satu senjata bercita-cita tinggi program pemodenan yang membayangkan perbelanjaan lebih 20 trilion Rubles (US$ 615 billion lebih) pada senjata baru melalui 2020.

Sesetengah penganalisis amaran tentera, bagaimanapun, bahawa usaha persenjataan kembali itu buruk dirancang dan mungkin tidak mencukupi untuk membalikkan penurunan tentera. "Program ini adalah jelas tidak mencukupi," kata Khramchikhin.

Photo: AP Tentera Laut kapal-kapal Russian Pasifik yang belayar berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan enaga besar-besaran tpernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships sail near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin memerhati latihan ketenteraan daripada sebuah helikopter berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa, 16 julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin observes military exercises from a helicopter near the Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin, pusat, dan Menteri Pertahanan Sergei Shoigu, kiri, mendengar kepada tentera Rusia Kakitangan Am Valery Gerasimov semasa latihan ketenteraan berhampiran Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, listen to Russia's military's General Staff Valery Gerasimov during military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Tentera Laut Russian Pasifik kapal dilihat dari tingkap helikopter berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada selasa 16 Julai, 2013 sebagai Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin melihat peta. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships seen in a helicopter windows near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at a map. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Tentera Laut Russian Pasifik kapal-kapal belayar berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships sail near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP helikopter Tentera Rusia nyala api ke atas Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Army helicopters fire flares over Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin menggunakan binokular kerana dia menyaksikan latihan ketenteraan berhampiran Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa, 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. Menteri Pertahanan Sergei Shoigu duduk di kiri  (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin uses binocular as he watches military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu sits at left).

Photo: AP Tank Tentera Russian bergerak di Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada selasa, 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet  (Photo: AP Russian Army tanks move at the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Russia Holds Biggest War Games in Decades

People’s Voices - MOSCOW (AP) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday watched Russia's biggest military maneuvers since Soviet times, involving 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region in a massive show of the nation's resurgent military might.

Dozens of Russia's Pacific Fleet ships and 130 combat aircraft also took part in the exercise, which began on Friday and continue through this week. Putin watched some of the drills on Sakhalin Island in the Pacific, where thousands of troops were ferried and airlifted from the mainland.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov assured foreign military attaches on Monday that the exercise was part of regular combat training and wasn't directed against any particular nation, though some analysts believe the show of force was aimed at China and Japan.

Konstantin Sivkov, a retired officer of the Russian military's General Staff, told the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the Sakhalin part of the maneuvers was intended to simulate a response to a hypothetical attack by Japanese and U.S. forces.

Russia and Japan have a dispute over a group of Pacific islands, which Russia calls the Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories. The islands off the northeastern tip of Japan's Hokkaido Island were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are believed to have offshore oil and natural gas reserves and other mineral resources.

Antonov said that Russia had warned its neighbors about the exercise before it started, and provided particularly detailed information to China in line with an agreement that envisages a mutual exchange of data about military activities along the 4,300-kilometer (2,700-mile) border.

The two Cold war-era rivals have forged what they described as a "strategic partnership" after the 1991 Soviet collapse, developing close political, economic and military ties in a shared aspiration to counter U.S. power around the WORLD.

Russia has supplied sophisticated weapons to China, and the neighbors have conducted joint military drills, most recently a naval exercise in the Sea of Japan earlier this month. But despite close economic ties and military cooperation, many in Russia have felt increasingly uneasy about the growing might of its giant eastern neighbor.

Some fear that Russia's continuing population decline and a relative weakness of its conventional forces compared to the Chinese People's Liberation Army could one day tempt China to grab some territory.

Russia and China had territorial disputes for centuries. Relations between Communist China and the Soviet Union ruptured in the 1960s, and the two giants fought a brief border conflict in 1969. Moscow and Beijing signed a new border treaty in 2004, which saw Russia yielding control over several islands in the Amur River. Some in Russia's sparsely populated far east feared that the concessions could tease China's appetite.

Alexander Khramchikhin, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, said that the massive exercise held in the areas along the border with China was clearly aimed at Beijing. "It's quite obvious that the land part of the exercise is directed at China, while the sea and island part of it is aimed at Japan," he said.

Khramchikhin, who recently posted an article painting a grim picture of Russia being quickly routed in a surprise Chinese attack, said that the war games were intended to discourage China from harboring expansionist plots.

"China may now think that Russia has finally become more aware of what could happen," he said, describing the exercise as a sobering signal. The maneuvers are part of recent efforts to boost the military's mobility and combat readiness after years of post-Soviet decline, but they have far exceeded previous drills in both numbers and territorial scope.

As part of the war games held across several time zones, some army units deployed to areas thousands of kilometers away from their bases. Paratroopers were flown across Russia in long-range transport planes, and some units were ferried to Sakhalin under escort of navy ships and fighter jets.

A decade of post-Soviet economic meltdown has badly crippled Russia's military capability, grounding jets and leaving navy ships rusting in harbors for lack of funds to conduct training. Massive corruption and vicious bullying of young conscripts by older soldiers have eroded morale and encouraged widespread draft-dodging.

The weakness of the once-proud military was shown in two separatist wars in Chechnya when Russian troops suffered heavy losses at the hands of lightly armed rebels. The Russian military won a quick victory in a war with Georgia's small military in August 2008, but the five-day conflict also revealed that the military had trouble quickly deploying its forces to the area. The shortage of precision weapons and modern communications were also apparent.

The Kremlin responded by launching a military reform intended to turn the bloated military into a more modern and agile force. The government also has unveiled an ambitious arms modernization program that envisages spending over 20 trillion rubles (over $615 billion) on new weapons through 2020.

Some military analysts cautioned, however, that the rearmament effort was badly planned and might not be sufficient to reverse the military's decline. "This program is clearly insufficient," Khramchikhin said.