International Business Times reports that “NATO and Russia conducted disaster-relief drills just 150 miles apart in Europe’s southeastern Balkan region Thursday.”

“The four-day NATO exercise in Montenegro began Monday, involving NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and a mobile laboratory that analyzes chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contamination. The country, which is the size of Connecticut, is currently in the process of joining NATO, something that Russia sees as unacceptable.”

“Meanwhile, about a distance of 150 miles northeast, hundreds of paratroopers from Russia and Belarus deployed into neighboring Serbia for a separate two-week exercise called “Slavic Brotherhood.” The Russian military reportedly said that the drills will take place near Belgrade until Nov. 15.”