[NYTr] More than 800 Protest NATO in Moscow

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

MOSNEWS.com - Sep 14, 2006
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/14/antinato.shtml

Thousands in Russia Protest Against NATO Military Excercises

MosNews

Over 2,000 people have taken to the streets of Khabarovsk, Russia?s Far East
to protest the Russian-U.S. military exercise Torgau-2006.

The protesters waved banners ?NATO, Go Out of Russia!?

?NATO is the most rapacious military bloc on the planet,? the Communist
Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.

He called on residents of Russia?s Far East to join the action of the
progressive force to prevent NATO?s entry to Russia and pool efforts in the
fight against the military bloc and the U.S. that want to ?make themselves
in Russia at home.?

The similar protest action took place in Maikop, the Republic of Adygeya,
southern Russia.

The Torgau-2006 exercises were to be held later this month in the central
Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of
Moscow. However they were called off due to unspecified problems with U.S.
personnel.

In previous years, the exercises were aimed at helping the two former
adversaries coordinate a joint response to terrorism, as well as coordinate
peacekeeping missions.

Last year, more than 275 Russian and U.S. troops held joint maneuvers
outside Moscow as part of the exercises, which are named after the German
town where American and Soviet soldiers met up on the Elbe River in 1945.

                            ***

ITAR-TASS - Sep 14, 2006
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10793314&PageNum=0

Communists protest in Moscow against Russia-NATO exercise

MOSCOW, September 14 (Itar-Tass) - More than 800 supporters of the Communist
Party of the Russian Federation gathered near the government?s residence
Thursday night to protest against plans to hold a Russian-U.S. military
exercise codenamed Torgau?2006, which was originally due be held near Nizhny
Novgorod on the Volga from September 23 through to October 4.

Yevgeny Gildeyev, the deputy chief spokesman for Moscow City?s Interior
Department said participants in the action had unfolded banners urging the
government to cancel the exercise and not to let NATO to the Russian
territory.

Left-wing organizations organized similar actions of protest earlier in the
day in the major Far-Eastern city of Khabarovsk, Maikop in the west of
Caucasus and Kursk, which is located 500 kilometers to the east of Moscow.

In Kursk, the demonstrators demanded that the Russian authorities cancel all
types of joint maneuvers with NATO and the U.S.

Initial plans for Torgau?2006 envisioned participation of a Russian
mechanized infantry regiment and a U.S. mechanized infantry battalion.

However, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this week the absence
of legal acts on [sic] had impeded the joint plan.
	
                                      ***

MOSNEWS.com - Sep 5, 2006
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/05/torgau.shtml

Russian-U.S. War Games Called Off ? Defense Ministry

MosNews

A Russian news agency reported Tuesday that Russia?s Defense Ministry
announced that joint military exercises with U.S. forces set for later this
month had been canceled due to unspecified problems with U.S. personnel.

Interfax quoted what it said was a high-ranking Defense Ministry official as
saying, ?The reason is the unresolved question on the status of U.S.
personnel commanding the exercises.?

Russian Defense Ministry officials said they could not confirm the report.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had no immediate comment.

The Torgau-2006 exercises were to be held later this month in the central
Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of
Moscow.

In previous years, the exercises were aimed at helping the two former
adversaries coordinate a joint response to terrorism, as well as coordinate
peacekeeping missions.

Last year, more than 275 Russian and U.S. troops held joint maneuvers
outside Moscow as part of the exercises, which are named after the German
town where American and Soviet soldiers met up on the Elbe River in 1945.