Major military drills kick off in Russia, Central Asia

A Mi-24 helicopter shoots the targets during the Center-2019 military exercise in Dushanbe region, Tajikistan, on Sept. 18, 2019. Tsentr-2019 (Center-2019) military exercises involving eight countries began on Monday in Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. A total of 128,000 troops, more than 20,000 units of weapons and military hardware, about 600 aircraft and up to 15 ships and support vessels will take part in the drills on several training grounds in the three countries and the Caspian Sea. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)