MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Country-wide maneuvers of artillery, reconnaissance troops, armour units and the Black Sea Fleet were launched in Russian on Thursday.

Field exercises of the missile troops and artillery have been launched in the Southern, North Caucasus and Crimean Federal Districts, the press service of Russia’s Southern Military District reported.

The combat training manoeuvres involve some 8,000 troops, more than 1,500 units of weapons and military equipment, including 400 artillery weapons, more than 100 volley fire rocket systems, 300 mortars and some 200 anti-tank weapons. Artillerists during the drills will fire at isolated and group targets from the new self-propelled guns Khosta and 122-mm Tornado-G multiple launch rocket systems.

Simultaneously, special tactical exercises of reconnaissance troops of the Eastern Military District have been launched outside Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East. According to the exercise scenario, the reconnaissance men will detect saboteurs, threatening the troops’ command centre. The saboteurs, moving on skis, are equipped with the Granat drones, Grot-M GPS/Glonass navigators and silent weapons.

In the Nizhny Novgorod region (Central Russia), two-sided battalion tactical manoeuvres have been launched with the participation of more than 200 troops, 15 T-72B3 tanks and BMP-2 armoured infantry vehicles. "The units have drilled combat tasks in the city conditions," spokesman for the Western Military District Colonel Oleg Kochetkov said. "Such combat is most difficult from the tactical viewpoint due to the absence of even an imaginary frontline, flanks and the rear." The troops have practiced storming of buildings and mopping up operations against sabotage groups of the simulated enemy, he said.

And in the Black Sea exercises, the Bora air-cushion missile ship, the Ivanovets and R-109 guided missile boats of the Black Sea Fleet have drilled launching a missile strike on a squadron of simulated enemy’s warships. "Along with missile weapons application drills the ships engaged in combat with actual gun practice on a sea-based target," spokesman for the Eastern Military District Colonel Alexander Gordeyev told TASS. Naval crews will also conduct an air defense exercise.