Russian president Vladimir Putin has named several military units after cities or regions in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Germany and Romania, Radio Free Europe reported. One of the military regiments was named “Transylvania.”

The decrees, which the Russian president signed on June 30, say that the names are intended "to preserve glorious military and historic traditions, and to nurture loyalty to the fatherland and military duty among the military personnel."

However, some countries may find this move provocative, Radio Free Europe says. For example, according to the decrees, the 6th Tank Regiment of the Russian Army is now called the Lviv regiment, the 68th Tank Regiment - Zhytomyr-Berlin and the 163th Tank Regiment – Nizhyn, being named after the Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Zhytomyr, and Nizhyn. The move comes as the relations between Kiev and Moscow have been severely affected by Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Romanian defense minister: I don’t think there’s a single day without a challenge from Russia

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: En.kremlin.ru)