MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russia has completed rearming air defense forces in Crimea with the advanced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems, Commander of the Southern Military District Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov said at the Defense Ministry’s year-end board meeting on Tuesday.

"This year, we have completed rearming air defense units stationed in Crimea with the S-400 Triumf systems. Today they are on combat duty, reliably protecting the airspace over the entire Crimean Peninsula," the general said.

For the purposes of neutralizing possible threats, the troops of the Southern Military District continued accomplishing their combat duty tasks to provide for air defense of Russia’s southern frontiers and protect its allies in the airspace in the troops’ entire zone of responsibility, he said.

Russia’s S-400 Triumf is the latest long-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground installations.

The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.