MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu inspected how combat training is being organized for contractor and volunteer soldiers of Russia’s Combat Army Reserve units at Southern Military District training grounds, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
"Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu has inspected the organization of combat training of contract servicemen and volunteers of Russian Combat Army Reserve units at the training grounds of the Southern Military District. The head of the Southern Military District combat training department told Sergey Shoigu that contract servicemen and volunteers undergo tactical, fire, medical and engineering training, as well as [specialized] training programs for drone operators, drivers and other military specialties," the statement said.
The ministry pointed out that exercises at the training grounds are being conducted under the supervision of officers with combat experience gained during the special military operation. The head of the Southern Military District combat training department told Shoigu that, "in accordance with the experience of the special military operation, the trainees are practicing the evacuation of wounded from equipment, from trenches, the actual process of [their] delivery to evacuation vehicles, and how communications are organized during offensive combat operations."
The commander of the Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) Operator Training Center of the Volunteer Combat Army Reserve Detachment told Shoigu that the graduates of the center have gained extensive combat experience, and gave a presentation of the types of equipment on which servicemen are trained. The top defense official was shown how to use a combat drone to destroy military equipment and enemy objects. In the course of firearms training drills, trainees fired various types of small arms as well as portable anti-tank grenade launchers, AGS-17 automatic machine grenade launchers and Shmel rocket-assisted thermobaric weapons.
The head of the Southern Military District combat training department told Shoigu that, in the course of firing exercises under the training program, contract servicemen and volunteers fired 250 to 300 rounds of grenades from the AGS-17 Plamya stationary automatic grenade launcher, and more than 500 rounds each from automatic rifles and machine guns. The servicemen also practiced controlling drones and using them for reconnaissance purposes and for targeting and adjusting artillery fire.
Shoigu also thanked female servicewomen of the Russian Armed Forces' medical service for their work in training soldiers in providing medical assistance under combat conditions and personally awarded them with wristwatches.