Home › Security › What the December 2020 air and ground moves showed
What the December 2020 air and ground moves showed
Summary
Two reports from 21 and 22 December 2020 show Russian military activity far beyond Ukraine's neighbourhood.
What did Russia's military reach look like on 25 December 2020? The reports available from the days before that date point to activity in East Asia and Central Africa, not around Ukraine.
On 22 December 2020, South Korea said it had scrambled fighter jets after four Chinese and fifteen Russian military aircraft entered its air defence identification zone. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said China had notified it in advance of a joint military exercise between China and Russia.
On 21 December 2020, Rwanda deployed what it called a protection force to the Central African Republic after its peacekeepers were attacked by rebel forces advancing on the capital, Bangui. The Rwandan and Central African governments accused former President François Bozizé of backing the rebels and plotting a coup, which he denied. Russia also sent troops and heavy weaponry to support the government.
What the two reports share
In both cases, Russian forces appeared in a theatre far from Ukraine: in a joint exercise with China near South Korea, and in support of a government facing rebels in Africa. The reports say nothing about how either episode related to Ukraine, so no link should be assumed. They do show that Russian military activity in late December 2020 was not confined to Ukraine's region.
