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Over 200 military drills held in Russia over past six months - Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, June 1 /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces held almost 250 military drills and firing exercises in the winter training period from December 1 to May 31, the press office of Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

“Overall, during the winter period, there were held over 5,000 practical exercises for combat vehicle driving, about 8,000 combat firing exercises, 135 tactical multiservice force drills and joint exercises with other troops and about 100 command-staff exercises, including on a bilateral basis,” the Defense Ministry’s press office said.

Specifically, the snap drills held by decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin from February 26 to March 3 in Russia’s western military district helped “objectively assess the process of raising the level of the organization of marches, the level of troops interaction, training and preparedness for the accomplishment of training and combat missions by military formations and units.”

The increase of ammunition consumption by three-five times during practical combat training on order from Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu helped “considerably raise the level of servicemen’s individual training,” the press office said.