VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Large-scale exercises involving all military and law enforcement structures of Russia's Far Eastern region will be conducted in the Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Bering Sea in the middle of 2003.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov made this announcement in a Wednesday interview with the press following a meeting with the leadership of the Far Eastern Federal District and the top brass of local military and law enforcement agencies.
"The exercises will be conducted following the experience of the maneuvers that were held in the Caspian this summer, but they will be more large-scale in terms of their significance and the number of participants," Ivanov said.
"The exercises will be aimed at opposing real threats and challenges existing in the Far East, which involves efforts against poaching, bio-terrorism, drug trafficking, and illegal migration and the protection of hydrocarbon deposits," the minister said.
"The maneuvers will practically test the state agencies managing maritime activities. We should make the Russian state maritime policy clear and understandable, so that we can defend the state's interests with all the available resources," he said.
The design of the upcoming exercises should be completed by supreme commander-in-chief, and if he approves it, we will start planning the maneuvers," he said.