North Korea and Russia have denounced plans for upcoming large-scale U.S.-ROK military exercises, accusing the allies of escalating tensions with the drills that Pyongyang calls a “war rehearsal” aimed at toppling the regime.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) ran a commentary on Friday chastising South Korean “puppet warmongers” and the U.S. over their annual Freedom Shield exercise scheduled to kick off next week.

The drills will bring a “storm of instability” to the Korean Peninsula, the agency warned, slamming the exercise as aggressive and emphasizing that the allies have increased the number of training exercises this year.

“This reckless