Photo: RIA Novosti

Units of the Russian Armed Forces are stepping up their battle drills at training ranges of the Rostov, Belgorod, Tambov and Samara regions as part of their combat training plans, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release. The basic objective is to comprehensively check up the coordination of action of the units so they could subsequently carry out training and combat missions in different regions and new training areas.

“The main goal of the ongoing events is to comprehensively assess the units’ teamwork and subsequently tackle combat training tasks on an unfamiliar terrain and untested training ranges,” the ministry said.

The exercises include in two stages. At the first stage, the commanders and personnel of motorized rifle, artillery and tank divisions were re-deployed from their permanent bases to other districts with an unfamiliar terrain and worked together with Russian Railways representatives to load their military hardware onto railway trucks.

At the first stage of the drills, servicemen also practiced driving military and other special-purpose hardware on an unfamiliar terrain, reconnaissance of movement routes, engineer reconnaissance and fortification operations.

“At the moment, unit commanders are testing methods of organizing different kinds of battles, as well as military unit and fire command when tackling combat tasks, trying to act unconventionally, deceive an adversary and take him by surprise,” the ministry said.

This stage of the drills is taking place in a complicated tactical environment, including a simulation of an imaginary adversary’s actions.

The final stage of the event will involve live-fire exercises, as well as measures to enhance the units’ teamwork and their commanders’ skills to guide artillery fire.

The exercises are expected to continue until the end of March.

Belarus offers Russia to deploy extra 15 planes due to NATO activity near border

Russia will be offered to deploy up to 15 more warplanes in Belarus, in connection with NATO activity near the Belarusian border, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated here on Wednesday.

“If they redeploy about fifteen airplanes from Italy (to the Baltic states), I think we should contact the chief of the Russian General Staff and offer them the reinforcements they are obligated to provide us with (as part of the Russian-Belarusian alliance). Say, to move no more than 12-15 planes to Belarus now and to determine their patrolling and back-up itineraries. Let them work and patrol,” Lukashenko told the Belarusian Security Council in Minsk on Wednesday.

Voice of Russia, Interfax, TASS