MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Fighter aircraft of the Eastern Military District went on combat alert at operational airfields in the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills that kicked off in Russia, the Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"The crews of Su-35S, Su-30SM and MiG-31 fighters of the Eastern Military District went on air defense combat alert at operational aerodromes in the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Kamchatka Regions and the Chukotka Autonomous Region as part of the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff exercise," the ministry said in a statement.

During the drills, the fighter jets will practice intercepting aerial targets, providing cover for attack aircraft, delivering air strikes against ground targets and providing air support for the troops, the ministry said.

The ground personnel of aviation units have carried out a set of measures for aircraft maintenance to prepare the fighters for flights to accomplish assigned missions, it said.

Vostok 2022 strategic drills

The Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills will run on September 1-7 under the command of Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov to practice defensive and offensive operations at the Burduny, Goryachiye Klyuchi, Knyaze-Volkonsky, Lagunnoye, Sergeyevsky, Telemba and Uspenovsky training grounds of the Eastern Military District and in maritime and coastal areas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.

Along with the troops of Russia’s Eastern Military District, Airborne Force units, long-range and military transport aircraft, joint operations during the Vostok 2022 strategic rills will be practiced by military contingents and observers from member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and other partner states, including Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and Tajikistan.

In all, the Vostok 2022 strategic maneuvers will bring together over 50,000 troops and more than 5,000 items of armaments and military hardware, in particular, 140 aircraft, 60 combat ships, gunboats and support vessels.