Combat Ready? Putin Orders Military Drill as Ukraine Simmers

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a drill to test the combat readiness of his armed forces, the country's defense minister said Wednesday.

The display of military might comes amid tensions with the European Union and the United States over the fate of Ukraine following the fall of its Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told a meeting that Putin gave the order at 2 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) for a drill to assess the combat readiness of ground and airborne units, the Itar Tass and Interfax news agencies reported.

The reports did not mention the recent uprising in Kiev, but the military drills are to be carried out in Russia's central and western military districts, the latter of which covers most of Russia's border with Ukraine.

Ukraine lies between NATO nations and Russia. Putin has called the former Soviet republic a 'brother nation' and wants to be part of a Eurasian Union he is building in the region.

Putin has ordered several such surprise drills in various parts of Russia since he returned to the presidency in 2012, saying the military must be kept on its toes.

Ukraine finds itself at the center of a tug-of-war between Russia and the European Union but Secretary of State John Kerry has insisted the country's future is not about 'east versus west.'

Ukraine is ethnically homogenous, and does not allow dual citizenship. However, there is a clear east-west split in its political and economic outlook.

Wealthy western Ukraine looks towards its European neighbors - especially Poland - and this is where Ukrainian nationalist sentiment is strongest. In the industrialized east and south, ties are closer to Russia.

Ukraine's acting leader, Oleksander Turchinov, told the parliament on Tuesday that he would meet law enforcement agencies to discuss the risk of separatism in eastern regions with large Russian-speaking populations.

Reuters contributed to this report.

First published February 26 2014, 4:45 AM

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a freelance reporter at NBCNews.com, based in London. He started work there in August, 2013, and is responsible for covering breaking news and working with overseas correspondents. He started working at NBC News having been at its standalone startup BreakingNews.com, where he was a breaking news editor. There, he was responsible for using social media to find, verify and publish breaking stories. Before his work at Breaking News, he was a reporter in the regional press where he covered crime and courts.