Sir, – The series of articles by Daniel McLaughlin (“Putin oversees war games in Western Russia”, September 19th; “Russia’s war games provoke concern in West”, September 21st) needs a reality check.
As it stands, the doomsday scenarios mentioned by Daniel McLaughlin have never materialised. Military drills are over, no country has been occupied and the world goes on. It’s worth mentioning that throughout the whole episode of hype over exercises both Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders repeatedly stated that “West 2017” had been been routine military exercise, defensive by design – the same as the others that are being conducted from time to time in different regions of Russia. So, what’s the buzz? Perhaps, the real story is about the need for responsible and objective journalism. – Yours, etc
VASILY VELICHKIN,
Press Secretary,
Embassy of the Russian
Federation in Ireland,
Orwell Road,
Rathgar, Dublin 14.