MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. A large-scale command-and-staff exercise of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, involving more than 3,000 servicemen, began in Russia on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry told journalists.

The exercise will involve the Omsk Missile Formation and the Novosibirsk Missile Formation, equipped with mobile Yars launchers.

"Overall, the exercise will involve over 3,000 servicemen and about 300 items of military hardware. A commission of the Strategic Missile Forces’ command will assess cohesion among the personnel fulfilling their tasks," the ministry said.

The exercise is carried out in line with the 2023 combat training schedule.

Maneuvers will take place on the territory of three Russian regions.

"Also, servicemen of the Strategic Missile Forces will carry out a complex of measures to train concealment and counter-measures against modern aerial survey systems, in cohesion with military units of the Central Military District and the Aerospace Forces," the ministry said, adding that special attention will be paid to various types of drones.

The RS-24 Yars - a modification of the Topol-M missile - is Russia’s strategic missile system armed with a solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile. It was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under Russian Academy of Sciences member Yury Solomonov.