MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Russian paratroopers alongside troops of the Collective Forces of Operative Response (CFOR) of the Collective Treaty Security Organisation (CSTO) are rounding off a training humanitarian search and rescue expedition near the North Pole, the spokesman for Russian Airborne Troops, Lt Col Yevgeny Meshkov, told TASS on Saturday.
"Fulfilling the training tasks, Russian paratroopers alongside the CFOR contingent have gone both on foot (on skis and snowshoes) and on snowmobiles or dogsleds over ice drifts of various sizes and across the Arctic ice fields in complicated weather conditions," Meshkov said.
The servicemen learnt to surmount the natural obstacles containing freezing water and got the skills for putting up an icy camp.
Along with this, the army units spent a "cold night" on their way to the destination without setting up a camp.
The paratroopers and CFOR units accomplished the tasks in interaction with the Russian Military Transport Aviation Command and polar explorers of the Russian Geographical Society’s Expedition Centre, Meshkov said.