All news

Post-Soviet security bloc military drills unrelated to political developments — CSTO

The CSTO rapid reaction force will practise a joint operation to localize an armed conflict to restore the territorial integrity and protect the constitutional order of a simulated member state
CSTO interior troops' drills in 2013 (archive) ITAR-TASS/Valery Matytsin
CSTO interior troops' drills in 2013 (archive)
© ITAR-TASS/Valery Matytsin

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. The concept and the scenario of the military drills dubbed Interaction 2015, which the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will hold for its collective rapid reaction forces (KSOR), are not related to the real political situation, the CSTO press office said in a statement on Thursday.

"The concept of the exercises is based on an imaginary military and political situation unrelated to real developments and it has been developed just to practise the training issues of deploying KSOR contingents in an operation in the East-European region of collective security," the statement said.

CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha will take part in the active phase of the Interaction 2015 drills. The maneuvers will involve about 2,000 troops, over 200 pieces of the armor and about 40 aircraft and helicopters of military transport and army aviation. The exercises will be held on the Strugi Krasniye central training range of the Russian Airborne Force in the Pskov region in northwest Russia and at the Kresty aerodrome on August 23-28.

"The exercise will be held in a planned procedure by decision of the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Security Secretaries of the CSTO," the statement said.

The exercises aim to improve coordination among CSTO KSOR command bodies in the preparation of a joint operation and troops’ control during its conduct, the CSTO press office said.

The drills are also intended to improve military contingents’ field skills and develop special forces in joint combat operations, the press office said.

Two Russian airborne units to take part in CSTO rapid reaction force drills

Russian Airborne Force Commander, Col.-Gen. Vladimir Shamanov said on Wednesday that two Russian airborne units will for the first time participate simultaneously in the Interaction-2015 military drills of the rapid reaction forces organized by the CSTO member states.

Since the CSTO rapid reaction force was established in 2009, "the drills will for the first time involve the simultaneous participation of about 1,000 paratroopers from two Airborne Force units stationed in Ivanovo and Ulyanovsk: the 98th Guards Airborne Division and the 31st Guards Separate Air Assault [Peacekeeping] Brigade," Shamanov said.

Joint headquarters comprising over 100 officers have been established to exercise control of the maneuvers, he said.

"The headquarters composition is multinational and includes representatives of all member states," the Russian Airborne Force commander said.

During the exercises, the CSTO rapid reaction force will practise a joint operation to localize an armed conflict to restore the territorial integrity and protect the constitutional order of a simulated member state, missions to destroy irregular armed formations, accomplish assignments for eliminating the consequences of emergency situations and carrying out search and special measures, Shamanov said.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.