Vladimir Putin's Army Built to Reassert Russian Influence in a Modern World
Vladimir Putin's Army Built to Reassert Russian Influence in a Modern World Thursday March 12 th , 2015 at 10:00 AM U.S. News - News 1 Share LONDON — In 2008, Russian troops invaded the neighboring country of Georgia and helped two rebellious provinces break away from the republic. While that military adventure was, in Moscow’s eyes, a success, it also made clear to Russian authorities that their armed forces were hobbled by aging equipment and a clunky chain of command designed to fight past wars. In the seven years since, Moscow has poured enormous amounts of money into its military while remolding it into a more modern, flexible and scalable force. It’s now ideally suited to fight so-called hybrid, or asymmetric, wars that eschew full-scale assaults for sleight-of-hand tactics, including fomenting insurgencies, covert and special-operations measures, terrorism, cyberattacks and propaganda. And while that transformation remains a work in