NATO Says Russia Sends Spetsnaz Special Forces To Iskander Missiles, Kremlin: US Increases Tensions In Europe

Illustration of a Ukrainian military convoy. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Defense of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Russia has transferred about 30,000 combat troops and modern weapons to Belarus over the past few days, Moscow's biggest military deployment to the country since the end of the Cold War, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

The deployment includes Spetsnaz special operations forces, SU-35 fighter jets, dual-capable Iskander missiles and S-400 air defense systems, he told reporters in Brussels.

"All of this will be combined with Russia's annual nuclear force drills," he explained, citing Reuters on February 3.

The term dual capability, which Stoltenberg used for the Iskander missile, is used to describe weapons intended for both conventional and nuclear warfare.

Citing the Daily Mail, Russia increased the number of Spetsnaz special forces, by sending two Spetsnaz battalions to the Belarusian border with Ukraine. The special forces were transferred by train, for war exercises in the border area.

Russia's 9K720 Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile. (Wikimedia Commons/Vitaly V. Kuzmin)

They will join the other 5,000 Spetsnaz commandos already in position, according to Western military experts, who warn they could spearhead a much larger force estimated at around 80,000 troops, including the Russian and Belarusian regulars.

The troops of the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, which had supplied new reinforcements, specialized in infiltration and infiltration behind enemy lines, from plotting sabotage to assassination missions.

The first phase of the war games runs until February 9 and thousands of Russian troops will assemble and organize defenses as part of the battle readiness operation. Major war games will then take place from February 10 and will see Russian and Belarusian units engage in a 10-day simulation.

Separately, the Kremlin said the deployment of US troops in Europe proved Russia had reason to be concerned.

Russian special forces Spetsnaz. (Wikimedia Commons/Aleksey Yermolov)

Speaking to CNN's Matthew Chance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the deployment of US troops in Europe was proof Russia had reason to be concerned.

"The US de facto continues to escalate tensions in Europe," Peskov told TASS, adding that the deployment was "the best evidence that we, as Russians, have clear reason to be concerned."

On Wednesday, the United States will send nearly 3,000 additional troops to Poland and Romania to bolster NATO allies Eastern Europe, in the face of what Washington describes as a Russian threat to attack Ukraine, US officials said.