Russia will deploy airborne battalion to the Crimea in 2017
The head of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Vladimir Shamanov, announced plans to spread out the first battalion of the Airborne Troops (VDV) division in the occupied Crimea, as reported by TASS
According to Shamanov, the decision has already been made and the battalion will be deployed in the city of Dzhankoy in 2017.
"In accordance with the decision of the board of the RF Ministry of Defense, the formation of a separate battalion of the 97th Airborne Assault Regiment in Dzhankoy, recreated as part of the 7th Airborne Division, will begin in the next year. It is anticipated that this battalion will be created by the end of 2017," he said.
Shamanov also said that the recreation of the whole 97th Regiment, which was subject to reduction in the late 1990s, will also be completed based on the formation of this battalion.
"The decision to reestablish the regiment was made in connection with the increased likelihood of conflict in the Crimea by the Ukrainian security services," the chairman of the RF State Duma Committee on Defense said.
Previously, the head of the Russian FSB called Ukraine "a source of terrorist threats." Russian authorities claim that Kyiv allegedly "provoked subversive activities in the Crimea" (the peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014 and by law is the territory of Ukraine).
Last year Shamanov announced plans to establish Russian rapid reaction forces as part of the VDV. At the same time, he said that Russian Airborne Troops are "ready to act anywhere in the world and do not need visas."