Putin displays massive firepower in Russian war games on border with Europe

Russia’s big Zapad 2017 military exercises, believed to be the largest since the end of the Cold War, entered the news again on Tuesday after a video emerged appearing to show a Russian attack helicopter firing its rockets into a group of bystanders during drills.Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the video was authentic, but the denied reports on Russian news site 66.ru, which first published the video, that two people had been injured in the incident.The ministry told Russian news agencies the Ka-52 helicopter’s targeting computer had accidentally locked onto a military truck visible in the video, near several civilian cars, as it and another helicopter took part in army exercises.The incident took place at the same firing range where, on Monday, president Vladimir Putin watched a display of fire power as part of the Zapad exercises, that are being called some of the largest since the Cold War and have attracted intense attention in recent weeks.The day Putin attended, dozens of planes and artillery units unleashed a barrage of projectiles onto Luzhsky firing range close to Saint Petersburg as part of a drill simulating a defense against an attack by a force intended to represent NATO.The defense ministry said the incident involving the helicopter had not happened on Monday and other reports suggested it had occurred one or two days before.

 

Source: Putin displays massive firepower in Russian war games on border with Europe – ABC News