MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Units of the coalition force arrived at the designated areas in the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills that kicked off in Russia’s Far East on September 1, the Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"At the Sergeyevsky training ground in the Primorsky Region, servicemen of the military contingents of foreign states participating in the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff exercise switched to preparations for upcoming joint practical measures. Units of the coalition force conducted marches on their combat vehicles and completed amassment at the designated areas for accomplishing combat training tasks during the drills," the ministry said in a statement.

Prior to the drills, the Russian side assigned armored and motor vehicles, small arms and ammunition to the units of the foreign military contingents for accomplishing combat training missions during the strategic maneuvers, except for servicemen of the People’s Liberation Army of China who had arrived in Russia with their standard armaments and materiel, the ministry said.

Under the command of the coalition force’s headquarters set up at the Sergeyevsky practice range, units of Russia’s Eastern Military District and nine foreign military contingents of the armed forces of Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, India, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia and Tajikistan completed their amassment in the areas of the upcoming Vostok 2022 strategic drills in accordance with the scenario of the operation in the Primorsky strategic direction, it said.

During the drills, the coalition troops will practice defensive and offensive operations in repelling a notional enemy’s aggression in the eastern area for the purposes of maintaining peace, protecting interests and ensuring military security in the Eastern region, the ministry said.

Vostok 2022 strategic drills

The Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills are running 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 drills 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.