MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/. Groups of Russian military inspectors will carry out this week observation flights over the territories of Germany and Italy within the frames of the international Open Skies Treaty, Sergey Ryzhkov, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.

"The observation flight over the territory of Germany will be held between November 4 and 8, 2019 from the Cologne-Bonn military airfield with an estimated flight range of 1,300 kilometers [over 800 miles]," Ryzhkov said adding that the inspection flight will be carried out on board of Tu-154M-LK-1 aircraft.

The aircraft will be strictly following an earlier approved route and German specialists on board of the plane will be supervising the use of the surveillance equipment and observation of the Treaty provisions, the military official stated.

Ryzhkov also said that another group of Russian military inspectors will hold an observation flight over the territory of Italy between November 4 and 8. The flight will be carried out from the Ciampino airport on board of An-30B aircraft and the estimated flight range is 2,015 kilometers (over 1,250 miles).

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and has 34 member states. It entered into force in 2002. Surveillance flights are conducted over Russia, the United States, Canada and European countries.

The key tasks of the treaty are to develop transparency, monitor the fulfillment of armament control agreements, and expand capabilities to prevent crises in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations.