French battlegroup holds Nato combat exercise in Romania

A French Leclerc main battle tank shoots during an exercise at a training range in Smardan, eastern Romania (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

Around 600 French soldiers deployed as part of a Nato battlegroup in Romania have held a combat exercise.

The aim was to test the 30-nation military alliance’s readiness on its eastern flank amid Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine.