MOSCOW, August 28 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian Armed Forces will have over 40 joint exercises with foreign colleagues this year, General Staff Chief Gen. Nikolai Makarov said on Friday.
“Most of the exercises are held jointly with our neighbors, member countries of the CIS and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO),” he said.
“Currently, Russia and Kazakhstan are hosting the CIS air defense drill, Combat Commonwealth 2011. It involves servicemen of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,” the general said.
Kazakhstan hosted a joint tactical command drill, Shygys 2011, in June. More than 200 servicemen and 13 aircraft represented Russia in those exercises.
In addition, Kyrgyzstan hosted a meeting of commanders of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO in early July. The commanders practiced interaction in the planning of a counter terrorism operation in Central Asia.