Russia to step up combat capabilities in Crimea

Russia's President Vladimir Putin makes his annual New Year address to the nation in Moscow December 31, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top general said on Tuesday he would beef up combat capabilities this year in Crimea, the Arctic and the country's westernmost Kaliningrad region that borders two NATO states.

The remarks by General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, are likely to deepen concern in the West over what it sees as Russia increasingly flexing its muscles since the start of the crisis in Ukraine.