MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. The strategic command and staff exercises Vostok 2022 have increased the interoperability of Russian and allied forces, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Friday.

"The strategic command and staff exercises Vostok 2022 was purely defensive in nature and was aimed at training troops to conduct military operations in modern conditions. It demonstrated the increased skills of troops and boosted the interoperability of the military command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, allies and friendly states from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America," he said at a news conference for foreign attaches following the drills.

He said that the exercises greatly helped to ensure military security in the East Asian region and raised the combat bonding between the servicemen of the participating countries.

"All goals and objectives of the exercise have been achieved in full," the deputy minister said.

The Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills ran from September 1-7 under the command of Chief of Russia’s General Staff to practice defensive and offensive operations at the 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 were practiced by military contingents and observers from member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 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 brought 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.