RUSSIA has defended army manoeuvres along its western border as a response to Defender Europe 2021, a huge Nato military exercise currently taking place in eastern Europe.

Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said the drills, which have been condemned as a threat by Ukraine as well as the US and Britain, were “a response to the [Nato] alliance’s military activities threatening Russia.”

The US-led war games began last month and run until June. Defender Europe 2021 involves 28,000 troops from 27 countries carrying out drills in 12 countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Lithuania. Ukrainian diplomat Alexey Arestovich described the exercises this month as a direct confrontation with Russia: “The scenario is that from the Baltic sea to the Black Sea, we are practising for, well, let’s put it directly, the war with Russia,” he said.