SIMFEROPOL, March 19. /TASS/. Paratroopers thwarted a notional enemy’s attacks during drills on the Crimean coast, the press office of Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

The large-scale drills of an air assault and an artillery regiment of the Novorossiysk Guards mountain warfare formation kicked off at the Opuk practice range in eastern Crimea on March 16. The drills involve over 2,000 troops and 500 items of combat and special equipment, military transport, assault and army aviation aircraft.

"While in defense, the units prevented a notional enemy’s sea vessels from approaching the coast and landing an assault force onto the shore," the press office said in a statement.

An air assault regiment from Stavropol and an artillery regiment from Anapa participated in the sea coast’s defense, it added.

The troops delivered fire on the enemy at all the stages of the defensive battle, using reconnaissance and strike systems in interaction with operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft and employing reconnaissance and fire complexes in interaction with artillery, the statement says.

"At the final stage of the drills, the troops practiced defending the sea coast. Live firings were conducted by air defense, artillery and parachute units. Their joint operations in defense were practiced and the activities of the commander centers of both regiments were assessed and checked," Exercise Head, Novorossiysk Guards Air Assault Mountain Warfare Formation Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky said.

During the drills, the troops widely employed the experience of present-day wars and local conflicts while the technical capabilities of conducting combat operations helped detect the target, provide coordinates of strike weapons and eliminate them within the shortest time possible, the general said.