Russian troops take part in drills in Tajikistan

Monitoring Desk

MOSCOW: Over 1,500 Russian motor rifle troops from the 201st military base took part in force-on-force tactical drills that ended in Tajikistan, the press office of Russia’s Central Military District reported on Friday.

“The motorized infantry personnel practiced the assignments of conducting an offensive, holding defense and switching to a counter-attack, and also reconnaissance and strike operations in interaction with aviation and rocket artillery,” the press office said in a statement.

“The crews of T-72 tanks, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, upgraded BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and the teams of grenade launcher gunners struck the targets with their firepower,” the statement reads.

During the drills, the artillery and armored units practiced the assignments of striking armored facilities, light-armored hardware and manpower of notional illegal armed formations, according to the statement. “A large amount of explosives simulating artillery shell blasts was used to create a situation close to a real combat environment. The stages of the drills were held at the Lyaur and Sambuli mountainous training ranges both in the daytime and at night,” the press office specified.

The 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan is Russia’s largest military facility outside its borders.

The military base is stationed in the cities of Dushanbe and Bokhtar. The military base’s armament includes T-72 tanks, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, Grad multiple launch rocket systems, Gvozdika and Akatsiya artillery systems. Under an agreement signed in October 2012, Russia’s military base in Tajikistan will remain until 2042. (TASS)