Russian Armed Forces

Russia said it will begin pulling thousands of troops back from areas near the Ukrainian border starting Friday, in a step that could calm tensions with the West that have surged in recent weeks.

The military units will return to their bases by May 1, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday in Crimea, where he's on a visit to review maneuvers.

Turkish military personnel in charge of operating S-400 missile defense systems are set to arrive in Russia at the end of May, a Russian military source has said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) of intercepting its military aircraft over the Black Sea in a dangerous fashion designed to provoke Moscow after the RAF made two such interceptions in a single week.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's military forces in the country's east were put on high alert Monday ahead of massive war games that also involve China and Mongolia, the largest show of power in nearly 40 years, the Russian defense minister said.

The exercise was held June 19-28 at the Rayevsky training ground in Russia's Novorossiysk region, the Serbian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has announced.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this on Tuesday.

"There are Russian nationals in Syria who have come there of their free will and for different goals. It is not for the Foreign Ministry to assess the legitimacy and legality of such decisions they have made," said a statement carried by TASS.

The Russian military scrambled a fighter jet after a U.S. spy plane was detected approaching the Russian border, Russia Today reported on Nov. 28, citing Russian Defense Ministry. 

The President and Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, attended the Strategic Nuclear Force management exercise. This was announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by RIA Novosti.

Russia is hopeful that the new weapons it tested for the first time in Syria will lead to a spike in arms sales abroad, officials have said.

Members of the Serbian Army's 37th Mechanized Battalion have taken part in a tactical live fire exercise held in Russia's Western Military District.

The Serbian Ministry of Defense announced this on Thursday, specifying that Serbian troops took part in the Russian military drill launched on August 6 as the only foreign participants.