MOSCOW, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/.A strategic command and staff exercise code-named Vostok 2014 (East 2014) with about 100,000 troops participating began in the Eastern Military District on Friday, the Defence Ministry said.

“About 100,000 servicemen, up to 1,500 tanks, 120 aircraft, 5,000 pieces of weaponry, military and special hardware, and 70 ships will take part in the exercises,” it said.

Participating in the exercises will be Tupolev-22M3 bombers, Tu-95MS missile carriers, Ilyushin-78 tanker aircraft, Il-76 and An-12 transport planes, and A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft.

Mi-8, Mi-24 and Ka-52 helicopters, Su-24 bombers, S-25 attack aeroplanes, MiG-31 and Su-27 jet fighters, and the newest S-34, Su-30SM and Su-35S multirole aircraft systems will take part in the drills.

The manouevres involve units that participated in a snap combat readiness check in the Eastern Military District on September 11-18 when the troops were put on full combat alert, airlifted, and redeployed by rail and sea. Some units were transported as far as 4,000 km away.

Tactical and cruise land-, sea-and air-launched missiles will be fired during the manoeuvres to take place at more than 20 training ranges from Anadyr in the north to Vladivostok in the south.

Several formations of the Western Military District will also take part in the exercises. “Some formations will be redeployed from the western part of Russia to the Far East over a distance of more than 6,000 km,” the Defence Ministry said.

The troops will practice skills to defend the coast and islands in Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Chukotka, and the southern part of the Primorsky Territory.

The exercises will end on September 25. They are the final stage of a series of command and staff, and special exercises, drills, and surprise inspections in 2014.