Total of 79 military drills held by Russia's armed forces in August

The Russian army held 79 military exercises in August and is now preparing for the Center-2015 strategic command and staff exercises, Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday.

"In the past month alone, we held 79 exercises," the defense minister said at a conference call in the ministry.
"The comprehensive exercise for the all-round support of the grouping of forces in the Central Asian strategic direction became the most dimensional maneuver. It involved about 6,000 servicemen and almost 800 pieces of combat hardware," the defense minister said.

Russia’s Western and Central Military Districts completed their preparations on August 24-29 for the Center 2015 maneuvers planned for September, the defense minister said.

The other large-scale military drills conducted this year included the Selenga-2015 Russian-Mongolian maneuvers and the Interaction 2015 military exercises held for the rapid reaction forces of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the defense minister said.

The Selenga-2015 drills in the Trans-Baikal Territory in East Siberia involved about 850 servicemen and over 140 armaments and pieces of combat hardware, including tanks and aviation.

The CSTO maneuvers in the Pskov Region in northwest Russia involved about 2,000 troops, over 200 armaments and pieces of combat hardware and about 40 aircraft and helicopters.

All the six member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sent their contingents to take part in the drills.
Source: Itar-Tass