Russian General Makes Threat in Response to US Missile Shield Plans

Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the General Staff’s training department, said on January 30 that the staff is considering changing the composition and structure of Russia’s military presence in Kaliningrad Oblast in response to the planned U.S. missile-defense project in Poland and the Czech Republic, news agencies and the daily “Kommersant” reported on January 30 and 31, respectively.

Shamanov did not elaborate except to say that the military must be “capable of guaranteeing the protection of Russian interests” in the region.

In June 2007, President Vladimir Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov threatened to target European sites with missiles if the United States goes ahead with its program (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” June 14, 19, 26, and 27, and October 29, 2007). Ivanov more recently linked missile defense to the unspecified military role of the Kaliningrad Oblast. “Kommersant” noted on January 31 that Iskander tactical ballistic missiles and unspecified tactical nuclear weapons might be among the weapons that could be stationed in Kaliningrad Oblast. Shamanov also said on January 30 that the number of submarine training exercises decreased by 20 percent in 2007 over the previous year due to “the technical state of the submarines.”

He noted that the average age of navy ships is 20 years and more, which limits their use in training exercises.

Shamanov confirmed earlier reports that tanks and truck-mounted Topol-M intercontinental ballistic will this year again roll across Red Square to mark Victory Day on May 9, as they did prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Military aircraft will fly overhead and marching troops will display the new uniforms recently approved by Putin (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” January 30, 2008).

In recent weeks, there has been some discussion in the press regarding the wisdom of reviving the massive military displays. Some observers said they consider doing so politically inexpedient, while others suggested that the parade might be difficult to stage on practical grounds since post-Soviet building activity has somewhat reconfigured the shape of the square.

Independent analyst Pavel Felgengauer wrote in “Novaya gazeta” on January 24 that Moscow’s aggressive rhetoric and muscle-flexing — such as reviving military parades — are helping to consolidate NATO and buttress U.S. leadership in the West. Shamanov’s name is linked to widespread atrocities committed by units under his command in Chechnya in 1999-2000

Source Radio Free Europe

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