Putin: I’m not plotting an invasion
So why do you need these new ‘super soldiers’, Vlad?
VLADIMIR Putin rubbished claims Russia was planning to invade another country yesterday stating it was ‘not going to attack anyone’.
He spoke as Nato revealed the biggest military build up in Eastern Europe since the Cold War.
Nato says it wants to deter Russian aggression and stop Moscow from undermining former Soviet states as it has done in Ukraine.
But the Russian President said it was sometimes ‘profitable’ to present oneself as the ‘protector of civilisations from some kind of new barbarians’.
He said it was ‘stupid’ and ‘unrealistic’ to think Russia would start a new war.
Speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion club yesterday in Moscow, he said: ‘The truth is, however, that Russia is not going to attack anyone, that’s ridiculous.’
He added: ‘We don’t want world domination or expansion or confrontation with anyone.’
Asked if Russia might intervene in Iraq and Libya in the same way as it had in Syria, Putin told the forum in southern Russia: ‘No, we don’t plan this anywhere.’
The leader’s assurance came as Russia launched a new super stealth submarine which will be deployed to the Black Sea.
The Veliky Novgorod is the latest addition to the Black Sea fleet and is capable of striking land, sea and underwater targets.
And pictures also emerged of elite Russian ‘super’ soldiers dressed in black who can parachute out of a plane before, it is claimed, using special equipment to plunge 100ft below water with underwater machine guns.
Putin’s Special Operations Forces divers are armed with night vision goggles and underwater submachine guns, the APS and SPP-1, whose bullets act like missiles to cut through the water. The Special Unit also use submersible vehicles to help them travel at speed. The ultra light, black vehicles can work at depths of up to 100ft travelling at 10mph for up to three hours.
They are so light they can be attached to the back of a soldier as he parachutes from a plane or glider.