I don't think SVR would make them up out of thin air since their disclosure makes Russia look bad in the sense that the SMO is supposed to be about stopping NATO's expansion to Ukraine yet now it turns out that they set up an unknown number of training centers even in spite of the ongoing hostilities.
I agree they're not likely to be making it up wholly out of thin air. There have been examples of Russian targeting of training activities like the EW training center in Poltava in early September.
But I don't think the West is prepared to put its forces at the kind of risk that an extensive, in-country, combat-arms-unit training effort would entail. And I don't think its existence could be kept from the Western media or from Russian targeting. So I take the SVR report with a big grain of salt.
Yes, but do these "training centers" actually exist at any scale worth getting concerned about?
I don't think SVR would make them up out of thin air since their disclosure makes Russia look bad in the sense that the SMO is supposed to be about stopping NATO's expansion to Ukraine yet now it turns out that they set up an unknown number of training centers even in spite of the ongoing hostilities.
I agree they're not likely to be making it up wholly out of thin air. There have been examples of Russian targeting of training activities like the EW training center in Poltava in early September.
But I don't think the West is prepared to put its forces at the kind of risk that an extensive, in-country, combat-arms-unit training effort would entail. And I don't think its existence could be kept from the Western media or from Russian targeting. So I take the SVR report with a big grain of salt.