YEKATERINBURG. March 9 (Interfax) - Reconnaissance units from the 201st Russian military base supported by armored vehicles have trained the elimination of a mock illegal armed unit at a highland range in Tajikistan, the press service for the Russian Central Military District said on Thursday.
"Reconnaissance units secretly penetrated the mock enemy's rear and ambushed a paramilitary convoy. The scouts took the enemy by surprise and mounted an offensive, firing small arms and weapons of BTR-80 armored personnel carriers and eliminating the mock illegal armed unit," the press service said.
The exercise took place at the Lyaur highland range during daytime and at night. Smoke charges, battle noise simulators and blank munitions were used to recreate combat environment, it said.
The 201st military base in Tajikistan is the largest Russian military facility outside the national territory. It is stationed in Dushanbe and Bokhtar and comprises motorized infantry, tank, artillery, reconnaissance, air defense, radiation, chemical and biological protection, and signals units.
As the Taliban, a terrorist organization banned in Russia, took the power in Afghanistan in 2021, Russia and its allies from the Collective Security Treaty Organization held a series of exercises in Tajikistan near the Afghan border. Back then, the Russian military reported reinforcement of the 201st military base in Tajikistan with new weapons and hardware.