RUSSIA'S MILITARY EXERCISE

Preparations are under way for Russia's biggest military exercise since the Cold War, involving about 300,000 service personnel, in eastern Siberia. China is sending 3,200 troops to take part in "Vostok-2018", with many Chinese armored vehicles and aircraft. Mongolia is also sending some units. The last Russian exercise of similar scale was in 1981, during the Cold War but Vostok-2018 involves more troops. It comes at a time of heightened Nato-Russia tensions. Relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), a 29-member defence alliance dominated by the US, have worsened since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Ends/BBC/MM.