The annual international military exercises Winter Shield 2021 kicked off in Latvia on Monday and will run until December 4, according to a press release from the Baltic republic’s defense ministry.
“The military exercises Winter Shield 2021 will be held in Latvia from November 22 to December 4,” the message says.
The exercise will be attended by soldiers of the mechanized infantry brigade of the ground forces, land guards (military militias), servicemen of the Lithuanian armed forces, the combat group of the expanded NATO presence in Latvia and the command of the US armed forces in Europe.
During the exercise, daily from 9.00 to 23.00 (10.00 – 0.00 Moscow time), live fires from howitzers, mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns and small arms will take place, as well as overflights of military aviation.
The equipment of the Latvian and allied armed forces will move along Latvian roads, and military aircraft will fly in the air, the press release says.
At the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016, NATO decided to deploy multinational battalions on a rotational basis at the request of these countries in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.