SETTLEMENT ROSHCHINSKY (Samara region), August 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has instructed servicemen of all the military units, assigned for peacekeeping operations, to intensify training in foreign language skills.

Shoigu spoke at a conference with the Russian top brass devoted to the results of an inspection of a peacekeepers' 15th motor-rifle regiment based in the Samara region on the Volga river.

The minister has instructed to include foreign language training for beginners in the day-to-day schedule of troops  being trained  under  peacekeepers' programs. "This applies to all the peacekeepers' brigades, including paratrooper units assigned for peacekeeping operations," the minister said.

Shoigu also instructed to enroll professional interpreters from Russian institutions and the Military Linguistic Center to upgrade professionalism of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

"The situation in respect to the foreign language training in the 15th Samara brigade is more or less normal," the minister declared.

Earlier, the commander of the 15th Samara brigade reported that professional interpreters were on staff of the brigade, and that several servicemen could speak foreign languages.

Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu arrived in Volga River’s Samara region to check combat training of units from the 2nd Guards All-Arms Army, including the 15th motorized peacekeeping brigade.

The brigade is drilling different episodes of a peacekeeping operation on Wednesday.

The minister was supervising tactical drills of a motorized battalion of the 15th brigade from an observation tower.

Commander of the troops in the Central Military District Colonel General Vladimir Zarudnitsky reported to Shoigu that the brigade drilled field training tasks with fire drills from all types of service weapons four days a week.

Brigade commander Colonel Vitaly Gerasimov said that ammunition expenditure had increased fivefold at gunfire drills this year. He noted a good training of drivers of combat vehicles, each of them had already passed more than two thousand kilometers this year. Gerasimov added that servicemen from the brigade were drilling a peacekeeping operation, including field engineering reconnaissance, convoying of humanitarian aid, protection of an area where refugees are accommodated, evacuation of the wounded and delivery of refugees along a humanitarian corridor to a safe area.