A T-72 tank is seen during the Safe Route competition of the International Army Games 2017 in Tyumen, Russia, on Aug. 6, 2017. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)
8,200 troops and 2,500 units of military hardware will take part in the drills.
MOSCOW, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Large-scale command and staff drills, involving 8,200 troops, have kicked off on the territory of Russia's Southern Military District, RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.
The exercises will be held until Saturday at 12 training grounds involving combined formations of the Army, Navy, Air Defense and Air Force located in the Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Stavropol and Krasnodar regions and Crimea, it quoted a spokesman for the district as saying.
More than 2,500 units of military hardware, including about 30 warplanes and over 60 helicopters, as well as over 100 tanks and ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla will take part in the drills.
The use of combined military formations aimed at ensuring the military security of the southern borders of Russia will be practiced during the exercises, the agency said.
On Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that over 120 drills are planned to be held across the country before the end of the year, including the Russia-Belarus "Union Shield-2019" that will involve up to 12,000 troops and 950 units of military hardware.
