MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Chemical, biological and radiation protection forces from the armies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states will take part in drills at chemical or nuclear power facilities in Russia next year, Chief of Russia’s Chemical, Biological and Radiation Protection Forces Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov said on Wednesday.
‘Next year, we are planning that organizations and units of CSTO countries, to which we have sent our invitations, will take part in our drills at facilities of either the chemical or nuclear power industry," the general said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda.
Such large-scale drills are held annually in Russia jointly with the Emergencies Ministry, the civilian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the National Guard, the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Biomedical Agency and the administrations of Russian regions, he noted.
In June this year, the drills held at the Smolensk nuclear power station in the town of Desnogorsk simulated a terrorist attack with the use of drones that are actively employed by illegal armed formations today, the general said.
"The drills for ensuring safety and eliminating a notional radiation accident at the Smolensk NPP practiced the issues of preparing joint measures and exercising command and control of forces and resources of various departmental affiliation," Kirillov said.
Units of Russia’s Defense Ministry accomplished assignments to protect the station against air attacks, including by drones, and also to search for and eliminate notional terrorists’ subversive and reconnaissance groups. Jointly with the Emergencies Ministry and the Federal Biomedical Agency, tasks were fulfilled for the radiation protection of the troops and the population against the consequences of a radiation accident," the general added.