RYAZAN. Aug 28 (Interfax) - Paratroopers from Russia, Belarus and Egypt have drilled destroying camps of illegal armed groups in the Friendship Defenders 2019 joint exercise in the Ryazan region.
"The coalition group of Russia, Egypt, and Belarus drilled surrounding and destroying base camps of illegal armed groups in the Friendship Defenders 2019 tactical exercise in the Ryazan region" on August 27, the Russian Defense Ministry's press service told journalists.
According to the exercise's scenario, having captured an airfield near the village of Noviki protected by over 200 armed militants, the advance party of the coalition group found two base camps of illegal armed groups up to 100 people strong in the villages of Gnetovo and Dolginino.
The commander of the coalition tactical group decided to surround the camps using two tactical airborne parties consisting of 60 Belarussian and Egyptian servicemen. Both camps were encircled and destroyed with the support of a reinforced paratrooper company of the Russian Airborne Troops using BMD-4M infantry fighting vehicles and a Belarusian paratrooper company using BTR-80 armored vehicles.
A wing of Mil Mi-24 combat helicopters and a battery of 2S9 Nona self-propelled cannons provided fire support to the coalition group.
The Friendship Defenders 2019 exercise is taking place in the Ryazan region on August 19-28. The active stage started on August 28. The exercise involves over 1,000 servicemen from the three countries; namely, about 650 paratroopers from Russia, over 150 from Egypt, and up to 250 from Belarus. The exercise additionally involves over 100 pieces of military hardware and automobiles. The Ilyushin Il-76MD of the Russian Aerospace Forces, C-130 Hercules, and CASA C-295 of the Egyptian Air Force are also taking part in the exercise.