Last week, russian media reported that the annual russian International Army Games will not take place in 2024, although the Ministry of Defense of russia has not commented officially. The event was also cancelled in 2023, according to the UK Defense Intelligence.
First staged in 2015, the International Army Games is an annual event organized by the russian MOD that involves a number of countries competing in military events over two weeks. The last International Army Games in 2022 had 6,000 participants from 37 countries.
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Russia has likely called-off the Games to avoid criticism of the event as a trivial activity in wartime, diverting military effort away from the war in Ukraine, and to avoid likely reduced participation from other countries.
Particularly known for the Tank Biathlon event, there is also a realistic possibility that, due to losses in Ukraine, the russian MOD is concerned a shortage of skilled military personnel and equipment would risk russia’s consistent domination of the competition.
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