ROSTOV-ON-DON, August 27. /TASS/. More than 5,000 troops of Russia’s Southern Military District will simultaneously take part in 13 company-level tactical drills as part of large-scale command and staff maneuvers underway in south Russia, the District’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"During force-on-force command and staff drills involving the troops (forces) of the Southern Military District, 13 company-level tactical exercises with the personnel of the District’s large units and formations will be held at a time," the press office said in a statement.

The drills at 12 training ranges of the Southern Military District will involve more than 5,000 servicemen and also about 1,500 items of military hardware, including BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-82AM armored personnel carriers, T-72B3 and T-90A tanks, TOS-1A Solntsepyok (Scorching Sun) heavy flamethrowers, 152mm 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, Ka-52 Alligator and Mi-28 attack helicopters, Taufin, Tigr and Rys armored vehicle, the statement reads.

Under the drills’ scenario, the troops will be engaged in a force-on-force exercise, which will help assess the ability of their commanders to take decisions depending on the changing situation while accomplishing combat training missions.

The large-scale force-on-force command and staff drills are running on August 26-31 at 12 all-arms, naval and aviation training ranges in the Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Stavropol and Krasnodar Regions and in the Republic of Crimea. They involve a total of over 8,000 troops.