Russia's friendly countries united in vast military Olympiads
Photo released by Xinhua News Agency.
The Chinese team's 96B tank competes in the tank biathlon at the 2022 International Military Games at the Alabino training ground in the Moscow region, Sunday, August 14, 2022. AP - Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr
Text by: RFI Follow
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The Military Games of countries friendly to Russia are being held from August 13 to 27 simultaneously in twelve countries.
It is the first time that Venezuela, which has close ties with Russia, has hosted competitions of the annual games.
On the menu: martial disciplines in which some thirty countries close to Moscow take part, such as China, Iran, Cuba, Pakistan and India.
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Tank biathlon, soldier rescue mission, or mine clearance competition.
These are some of the events, among the thirty on the programs of these 2022 International Military Games.
In addition to the nature of the events, the specificity of these warrior Olympics lies in the proximity of the participating countries to Moscow.
This competition organized since 2015 by Russia takes this year, in the context of the war in Ukraine, a particular resonance.
The events are spread over different countries, particularly in the Xinjiang region of China, but also in Venezuela, which is hosting these military games for the first time.
The opening ceremony of the "Sniper Frontier" events of the 2022 International Military Games, part of which was even broadcast live on Venezuelan public television, Monday August 15, took place with great fanfare with parades, songs and speeches at Fort Terepaima in Barquisimeto (northwest).
¡Arrancamos!
Venezuela is sede de la disciplina #FronteraFrancotirador de los #ArmyGames2022.
Delegations from Latin American, Caribbean and Euroasiáticos countries are always present in Fuerte Terepaima #Lara para estrechar lazos de amistad y hermandad ¡Que gane la Paz!
pic.twitter.com/6o44QkPWFk
— Vladimir Padrino L. (@vladimirpadrino) August 15, 2022
Russia, China, India, Bolivia, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia... After listing the participants, Vladimir Padrino López, Venezuelan Defense Minister, explained what in his view brought them together.
These are the countries where we wish for peace in the world, where we daily condemn the imperialist aggressions against the peoples.
But more than showing our military talents, the spirit of these games is above all to unite cultures and peoples.
A semblance of an Olympic spirit which nevertheless expresses itself with warlike rhetoric.
In a similar opening ceremony in Russia, where other events are taking place, Vladimir Putin recalled according to him "
the decades ahead of Russian weapons
" over their foreign equivalents.
►Read again: President Putin promotes Russian weapons used “in real combat conditions”
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