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CSTO stages rapid-response drill in Russia

Xinhua, August 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on Monday launched its annual military exercise in northwestern Russia's Pskov region to test the capabilities of its Rapid Reaction Force units, said the organization.

The Interaction-2015 joint drill, which will last until Friday, involved over 2,000 troops, more than 200 combat vehicles, as well as 40 aircraft, it said in a statement.

The Rapid Reaction Force units would conduct a joint operation aimed at neutralizing an armed conflict and restoring the territorial integrity of a CSTO member state by destroying irregular armed groups and liquidating consequences of an emergency situation, it said.

The exercise is not based on any concrete military or political situation but is designed to practice actions necessary for the deployment of Rapid Reaction Force units for operations in the eastern European region of collective security, the statement added.

"One of the main objectives of the exercise is to make our forces ready to relocate within hours to a particular region of collective security," CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Valery Semerikov said at the opening ceremony of the exercise.

Semerikov denied that the exercise was a response to the ongoing NATO exercises in Western countries, saying it was planned at an earlier time.

Founded in 1992 within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CSTO currently has six members -- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan -- with Afghanistan and Serbia as observers.

It regularly holds military drills on territories of its member states. The Interaction-2014 drill was held in August last year in Kazakhstan. Endi