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Military drills

Military exercise Kavkaz-2020 ends with mock enemy defeat

Russian President Vladimir Putin observed the final events on site

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Russia's First Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kapustin Yar training ground

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's President Vladimir Putin watching the Kavkaz-2020 military drills at the Kapustin Yar training ground

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

KAPUSTIN YAR PROVING GROUND /Astrakhan Region/, September 25. /TASS/. The main phase of the strategic exercise Kavkaz-2020 at the proving ground Kapustin Yar in the Astrakhan Region has ended with the enemy defeat by the coalition force. Russian President Vladimir Putin observed the final events on site.

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"Coalition forces incorporating contingents from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive operation to inflict a crushing defeat on the enemy force at the Kapustin Yar proving ground," the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The coalition forces delivered a massive fire strike, gained fire superiority and inflicted maximum losses on the hypothetical enemy. Operative and tactical airborne assault forces prevented the arrival of enemy reserves and created conditions for a counterstrike.

The coalition force carried out a pincer movement, which ended in the encirclement of the enemy force. The main strike that followed made the enemy surrender.

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.

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