SABRE RATTLING AT “PEACE SHIELD 2005”

Russian Agency RIA Novosti reports that the Peace Shield 2005 international military exercises have been concluded in the Crimea. The main participants of the drill have been US marines who excercised along with Ukrainian, Georgian and Azerbaijani units. The stated purpose of the drill was practice of anti-terrorist measures. According to a source in the Russian Black Sea Navy in Sevastopol, the manoeuvres were aimed at training troops to squelch popular uprisings of the Russian population in the Crimea and to fight Russian troops in case of their eventual landing to help out the local Slavic population.