YEKATERINBURG, March 11. /TASS/. Over 8,000 troops of Russia’s Central Military District are participating in the missile and artillery forces’ drills that have kicked off in three Russian regions, the District’s press office reported on Thursday.

"The troops have moved to the training ranges in the Kemerovo, Orenburg and Chelyabinsk Regions and about 1,500 items of military and special hardware are involved. They will hold a series of tactical exercises to accomplish firing tasks as part of reconnaissance/strike and firing systems," the press office said in a statement.

The drills involve the teams of Iskander-M tactical missile systems, Uragan and Grad multiple launch rocket systems and 152mm Msta self-propelled and towed howitzers. Zoopark and SNAR-10 artillery reconnaissance stations, Ironiya, Strelets and Namotka-KS reconnaissance vehicles and also a group of Forpost, Orlan-10 and Eleron-3 unmanned aerial vehicles are reconnoitering the targets and adjusting the fire in the drills, the statement says.

As the press office of the Central Military District specified for TASS, the drills will run amid a joint tactical environment and practice support for force groupings operating in various directions.

The Central Military District is the largest in Russia. It is based on the territory of the Volga, Urals and Siberian integrated federal districts and 29 Russian regions. Structurally, the Central Military District also includes some overseas facilities: the 201st military base in Tajikistan, the Kant integrated military base in Kyrgyzstan and units stationed on the territory of Kazakhstan.