--- description: New divisions will likely be spread out across Russia's borders with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Finland, Azerbaijan and the Baltic States. title: Russia Plans to Deploy More Troops to Counter NATO image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta55c716098d27abb/698891f82dce01812e9e8efa/rtx2c3ar.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia Announces New Military Divisions to Counter NATO Deployments in Eastern Europe by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2016 2:59 AM CUT  Russian military vehicles are parked in Tverskaya street before moving towards Red Square for a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in central Moscow, Russia, April 28, 2016. Russian military vehicles are parked in Tverskaya street before moving towards Red Square for a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in central Moscow, Russia, April 28, 2016.MAXIM ZMEYEV—Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2016 2:59 AM CUT Russia on Wednesday [warned](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nato-divisions-idUSKCN0XV0TU "undefined") against NATO’s proposed military buildup in Poland and the Baltic region, saying it would retaliate by shoring up its western and southern flanks with three new divisions. The new divisions will likely be spread out across the country’s borders with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Finland, Azerbaijan and the Baltic States, Reuters reported. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday that the divisions would be formed by the end of the year to counter NATO’s increasing influence. Moscow accuses NATO of challenging its security in the region; NATO says its military reinforcements are only a precautionary measure following the Russian annexation of Crimea in Ukraine and its backing of Ukrainian separatists. “This would be a very dangerous build-up of armed forces pretty close to our borders,” Andrei Kelin, an official at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “I am afraid this would require certain retaliatory measures, which the Russian Defense Ministry is already talking about.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nato-divisions-idUSKCN0XV0TU "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4318941/russia-nato-military-divisions-retaliation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4318941/russia-nato-military-divisions-retaliation/"},"headline":"Russia Announces New Military Divisions to Counter NATO Deployments in Eastern Europe","datePublished":"2016-05-05T02:59:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:17:20.743Z","description":"Moscow accuses NATO of challenging its security","url":"https://time.com/4318941/russia-nato-military-divisions-retaliation/","keywords":["russia","Military","Ukraine","Crimea","NATO","troops"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta55c716098d27abb/698891f82dce01812e9e8efa/rtx2c3ar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta55c716098d27abb/698891f82dce01812e9e8efa/rtx2c3ar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Russian military vehicles are parked in Tverskaya street before moving towards Red Square for a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in central Moscow","caption":"Russian military vehicles are parked in Tverskaya street before moving towards Red Square for a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in central Moscow","creditText":"MAXIM ZMEYEV—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4318941/russia-nato-military-divisions-retaliation/","name":"Russia Announces New Military Divisions to Counter NATO Deployments in Eastern Europe"}}]}] ```