MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. More than 2,000 servicemen and 200 pieces of military equipment will take part in the exercises of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) "Interaction-2015", which will be held near the city of Pskov in in the west of Russia in late August, commander of the Russian Airborne Troops Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov told reporters on Wednesday.
"The exercises will involve military contingents from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Overall, more than 2,000 troops and 200 pieces of military equipment will be involved in the drills. The smallest contingent - the assault platoon - will be from Tajikistan, the biggest - two battalions with a total number of about 1,000 paratroopers - from Russia," Shamanov said.
The general noted that the drills would also involve more than 40 aircraft and helicopters - the Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets, SU-24 frontline bombers, the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft and also the Mil MI-24, MI-26 and the Kamov KA-52 helicopters.
Shamanov added that Kazakhstan had sent to the exercises a battalion of radiation, chemical and biological defence. According to him, the unit "equipped with the state-of-the-art specimen of equipment, which they will bring to the exercises, will practice dealing with the aftermath of a man-made disaster in the interests of the KSOR contingents."