Around 95,000 Russian troops and over 7,000 pieces of military equipment are taking part in large-scale strategic exercises, the biggest this year, in the Central Military District (CMD), the Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday.
"Today the strategic command-and-staff exercise Center–2015 has been started. This is a final stage of the operational and combat training of the Russian Armed Forces in 2015 and joint combat training activities of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization]," the ministry said on its website, Russia-based Sputnik reported.
The drills incorporating the CSTO members aim to contain a fictional international armed conflict in the Central Asian region, elaborated Col.Gen. Vladimir Zarudnitsky, commander of the CMD.
CMD troops were given combat training missions as part of the first stage of the Center-2015 drills on Monday, Zarudnitsky said.
He added that Kazakh armed forces will take part in the exercises, while troops from a Nicaraguan delegation will observe.
Center-2015 includes up to 170 aircraft and 20 warships from the CMD, the Caspian Flotilla, airborne troops, the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces’ Long Range Aviation Command and other national security bodies.
The exercises, headed by Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valeriy Gerasimov, are scheduled to wrap up on Sunday, September 20.