MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Russian and Kyrgyz service members practiced operations to neutralize simulated illegal armed groups in the final stage of the joint military drills, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The tactical exercise involving military contingents from the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation in the territory of a training center in Kyrgyzstan ended with a joint drill to eliminate simulated illegal armed groups," the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry specified that under the exercise scenario, numerically superior simulated illegal armed group units crossed the state border and engaged in combat with border guards.

"Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crews, having conducted aerial reconnaissance of the state border, identified the enemy’s coordinates and firepower. The intelligence data was promptly relayed to the crews of Mi-8MTV transport and combat helicopters to deliver a preemptive strike against the enemy using aircraft-launched rockets. To prevent further advance of the illegal armed groups’ forces, crews operating 122-mm D-30 howitzers, as well as 120-mm and 82-mm mortars, delivered strikes on the simulated enemy," according to the statement.

After that, when the "enemy" attempted to occupy a section of territory in the border regions to build up its forces and resources, servicemen from the combined unit blocked groups of a simulated militant formation and identified their strongpoints, as well as equipment and personnel concentration areas. "Operators of attack FPV drones and UAVs equipped with munitions-dropping systems, after conducting reconnaissance of the area, destroyed the remaining armored and automotive vehicles of the simulated illegal armed group, thereby creating favorable conditions for the combined unit’s further advance," the ministry said.

After the practical phase of the exercise was completed, a ceremonial closing ceremony was held. A military band performed the national anthems of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.

Tactical exercise

A joint tactical exercise with the participation of military contingents of the armed forces of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation took place from August 10 to 17, 2026, at a training center in Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian military contingent consisted primarily of motorized infantry and reconnaissance units, crews of attack unmanned aerial vehicles from the unmanned systems unit of the 201st Guards Military Base of the Central Military District, as well as crews of Mi-8MTV transport and combat helicopters from the joint Russian military base stationed in Kyrgyzstan.