MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Russian Black Sea Fleet ships have carried out live firing practice against missile targets, the Defense Ministry told the media on Friday.
"Artillery fire was conducted against missile targets launched from two small anti-submarine ships - The Muromets and The Suzdalets," the Defense Ministry said, adding that some air targets were dropped from amphibious planes Be-200 and Black Sea Fleet’s air defense aircraft.
Artillery fire with Duet systems of the complex AK-630 was conducted by crews of the missile cruiser The Moskva, small missile ships The Vyshny Volochyok and The Orekhovo-Zuyevo, and four missile boats: the Naberezhnyie Chelny, The Ivanovets, the Shuya and R-60.
The Kavkaz-2020 drills, running from September 21- 26, led by Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov, are underway in Russia’s Southern Military District and in the Black and Caspian Seas. The exercise involves about 80,000 personnel, including officers from the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the Russian National Guard. Furthermore, this is a multinational endeavor which includes up to 1,000 servicemen from Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka are participating as observers, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In addition, Russia’s top brass said that roughly 250 tanks, up to 450 mechanized infantry fighting vehicles and APCs, as well as up to 200 artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems were set to be used in the exercise on firing grounds. About 12,900 troops are going to take part in activities in line with the 2011 Vienna Document of the Negotiations on Confidence-and Security-Building Measures.