MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The artillery units of the Southern Military District’s 58th all-arms army stationed in Ingushetia eliminated a notional enemy’s positions with heavy mortars and multiple rocket launchers during drills in the mountains of North Ossetia as part of the troops’ surprise inspection, the District’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"During the active phase of the tactical drills, the artillery units held large-scale live-firings at the Tarskoye training range in North Ossetia. The large unit’s artillery personnel conducted fire from Pion self-propelled guns and Tyulpan heavy mortars with high-explosion fragmentation shells against underground storage facilities with ammunition, fuel and lubricants, which were located in the mountains and were inaccessible for their destruction by other ground-based artillery," the press office said in a statement.

Drones transmitted target coordinates to the artillery personnel in real time, the press office said.

The exercise involved over 700 artillery personnel, about 100 items of rocket and artillery armament, military and special hardware, including Tornado-G multiple launch rocket systems, 240mm Tyulpan self-propelled mortars and 203mm Pion self-propelled guns, the statement says.

The snap combat readiness check of the troops of the Southern and Western Military Districts, marine infantry of the Northern and Pacific Fleets, some units of central subordination and the Airborne Force is being held on July 17 - 21 on order of Russia’s Supreme Commander-in-Chief President Vladimir Putin.

The surprise combat readiness check involves about 150,000 troops, around 400 aircraft, over 26,000 items of armament, military and special hardware and over 100 warships and support vessels.