MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. A strategic command and staff exercise involving the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Joint Staff, the Secretariat, and interested ministries and agencies of the organization’s member states is being held from March 16 to 19 under the direction of Chief of the Joint Staff, Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov, CSTO Joint Staff spokesperson Vladislav Shchegrikovich told TASS.
"From March 16 to 19, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is holding a strategic command and staff exercise involving the Joint Staff, the Secretariat, and interested ministries and agencies of the CSTO member states, under the direction of Chief of the Joint Staff, Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov. The event is aimed at practicing actions related to preparing proposals for CSTO bodies to provide military and military-technical assistance to the Organization’s member states," Shchegrikovich said.
According to him, Serdyukov noted in his opening remarks, in particular, that "the strategic command and staff exercise is being conducted in a context where the military-political situation is characterized by growing confrontation at the global and regional levels, with ‘zones of instability’ moving closer to the CSTO member states’ areas of responsibility."
Exercise stages
Shchegrikovich said that according to the drill scenario, the strategic command and staff exercise is being conducted in four stages, during which it is planned to sequentially practice preparing collective decisions for the formation and deployment of all components of the forces and assets of the CSTO collective security system, as well as a set of crisis response measures in the Eastern European and Central Asian regions of collective security.
"Following the established signal, the Joint Staff and Secretariat personnel were notified and assembled. Measures have been completed to deploy the functional groups of the CSTO Crisis Response Center and the command posts of national agencies authorized to coordinate with it," the spokesperson said.
He noted that this year’s exercise also includes representatives of the CSTO Permanent Council, the Secretariat of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, the Anti-Terrorism Center of the CIS Member States, and the Coordination Service of the Council of Border Troops Commanders.
"The first stage involves preparing proposals and drafting decisions by the organization’s bodies regarding the formation and rapid deployment of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force and the provision of military-technical assistance to a member state.
The second stage involves practicing the tasks of preparing proposals and developing collective decisions regarding the formation and deployment of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force for the Central Asian Region and the provision of military-technical assistance," Shchegrikovich said. "The third stage involves practicing tasks related to preparing a hypothetical peacekeeping operation on the territory of a CSTO member state."
The fourth stage involves practicing the formation, deployment, and use of a joint CSTO NBC protection and medical support unit, he added.
According to him, each stage concludes with the review of draft decisions by the organization's bodies regarding the formation, deployment, and use of troop components (Collective Forces), comprehensive support for the groupings, and the provision of military-technical assistance to states.
The CSTO spokesperson noted that "upon completion of the strategic command-staff exercise, all draft decisions developed by the CSTO bodies will be communicated to the states as initial data for the development of planning documents for joint and special exercises conducted within the organization’s framework in September-October of this year in the territories of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Belarus."