KHABAROVSK, June 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Military drills and surprise combat readiness checks show that the Russian Armed Forces can efficiently perform real combat missions, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.

“The work, that the Defense Ministry carries out to raise the level of troops’ combat readiness and preparedness and equip the army and the fleet with armaments and military hardware, is yielding the necessary results,” Shoigu told a meeting of the Defense Ministry’s board.

The Russian Armed Forces have been involved in a series of large-scale military drills and snap combat readiness checks lately.

Almost 250 drills and about 8,000 firing exercises were held in the Russian Armed Forces from December 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

In particular, troops of the Western and Central Military Districts, as well as forces of some service arms were alerted in a combat readiness check from February 26 to March 3. The maneuvers involved 110,000 personnel, 90 aircraft and over 110 helicopters, almost 900 tanks and up to 80 warships and vessels.

Several large-scale military drills were held in June 2014. On June 7, Russian President ordered a combat readiness check of railway troops in the Central Military District and on June 21-28 all of the district’s troops and forces are taking part in the check. These drills involve over 65,000 servicemen, more than 180 aircraft and about 60 helicopters.

Large attention was drawn to Russia’s large-scale military exercises in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on June 10-20. The maneuvers were held along with NATO’s military exercises in three Baltic states and in the Baltic Sea. Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier said that the number of Russian troops involved in the Baltic drills was equivalent to the number of personnel deployed in NATO’s exercises.