According to Russian state-owned media, Aerospace Defense Forces will be put on a higher alert status for New Years tomorrow. Rian published this report:
“About 20 thousand military personnel will provide air defense for Russia during the New Year holidays, the Ministry of Defense reported.
Directly on New Year’s Eve, more than 1,800 military personnel of the 1st Special Purpose Air and Missile Defense Army of the Russian Aerospace Forces will go on combat duty.”
This report is interesting in that a sizable portion of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces (VVKO) and specifically the 1st Special Purpose Air and Missile Defense Army around Moscow are already in an increased alert status due to Ukrainian airstrikes throughout the Russian Federation. There are few explanations for this article, the day before New Years Eve, other than reassurance to the Russian public only one day after the shelling of Belgorod and an Ukraine drone strike in Bryansk.
Also, it is worth noting that the 1st Special Purpose Air and Missile Defense Army has more personnel than 1,800 as it is tasked with defending infrastructure and personnel , chiefly President Putin, in and around Moscow. This may indicate that an additional 1,800 personnel are being called up for celebrations in the next twenty-four hours.
The 1st Order of Lenin Special Purpose Air and Missile Defense Forces Army is a military formation of the Russian Air and Missile Defense Forces tasked with defending assets of high strategic value in Russia, primarily the Moscow region and its surroundings where much of the military leadership is located together with a large part of the Russian population centers. The unit is the only one equipped with the A-135M anti-ballistic missile system.
