SIMFEROPOL. Sept 27 (Interfax) - A largescale exercise of the Airborne Forces has begun in Crimea with the participation of about 2,000 servicemen and more than 100 pieces of combat and special hardware, the Russian Defense Ministry's information and mass communications department said.
The exercise of air assault and artillery regiments from the Novorossiysk Guards Mountain Air Assault Formation of the Airborne Forces will take place at the Opuk range in eastern Crimea. It will last for three days.
"The regiment-wide tactical games will involve up 2,000 servicemen and more than 100 pieces of combat and special hardware of the Airborne Forces," the department said.
The exercise will begin with the units' deployment to the practice area by means of BMD-4M amphibious infantry combat vehicles and BTR-MDM Rakushka armored personnel carriers, supplied to the formation in summer 2021.
"The units will train defensive operations: there will be live-fire drills involving standard weapons of combat vehicles and attached air defense, anti-tank, flamethrower, artillery, and sniper units," the department said.
Paratroopers will train flexible defense in the daylight and at night. Offensive operations will be trained at the final stage of the exercise, and the mock enemy will be put under fire of T-72B3 tanks, 120mm 2S9 Nona-S self-propelled artillery weapons, and 122mm D-30 howitzers.
A variety of weapons will be used during the exercise, including AK-12 rifles, Pecheneg machineguns, RPG-7D grenade launchers, 12.7mm Kord heavy machineguns, RPO-A Shmel rocket-assisted flamethrowers, 30mm AGS-30 automatic grenade launchers, and sniper weapons.