Two important and connected developments in the second half of April – military exercises in Crimea and the wider growing tensions with Ukraine-cogently reiterated the military-political importance to Russia of this illegally annexed peninsula. Since 2014, Moscow has been heavily investing in building up its military posture there. And at the moment, Moscow’s main objective along this vein for Crimea is to upgrade local anti-missile and anti-aircraft capabilities – and anti-drone operations in particular – in order to complete the formation of an area-denial zone centered on this strategically positioned region.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Sergey Sukhankin: Expanding Russia’s military capabilities in the Black Sea
This handout picture released by the Russian Defence Ministry on April 22, 2021 shows a Russian military Kamov Ka-29 helicopter taking part in a military drill along the Opuk training ground not far from the town of Kerch, on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of the Crimea.
