Surprise drill puts over 100,000 troops through their paces in Russia’s Far East
Troops in the Far East of Russia have been placed on high alert as more than 100,000 servicemen will participate in the surprise combat readiness check, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
"Within the framework of a sudden check of the combat readiness of the troops of the Eastern Military District, the military units stationed in the Eastern region of the Russian Federation, have completed the implementation of measures to bring in the highest degree of combat readiness," the Ministry said in a statement.
The ad hoc maneuvers will involve the 3rd Command of the Air
Force and Air Defense Troops, the command of the Pacific Fleet,
as well as the command of Strategic and Military Transport
Aviation, the ministry said.
The inspection, which kicked off at 10:00 local time (06:00 GMT)
on September 11, was ordered by the Supreme Commander of the
Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin.
The surprise drill “envisions participation of the combat
planning and control agencies at the level of the military
district, separate armies and brigades, mechanized infantry and
reconnaissance units, signal corps and logistics units, ships,
submarines and auxiliary seacraft, as well as the units of
Strategic, Military Transport and Frontline Aviation,” Gen.
Nikolay Bogdanovsky, the chief of the inspection group, was cited
by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
According to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, special attention during the exercises will be paid to “checking the redeployment of the troops on long distances as it’s a priority task for the Armed Forces.”
The Defense Ministry also noted that ad hoc inspections have become a regular practice for the Russian military since early 2013.
In June, similar unscheduled war games involved 65,000 troops in the Central Military District, which united all Russian forces in Siberia, the Urals and beyond.
It was the second check for the Central Military District, as it was already tested in February, along with the Western Military District.
