ROSTOV-ON-DON. July 25 (Interfax-AVN) - A large-scale tactical exercise with live firing has begun at facilities of the North Caucasus military district's 20th motorized rifle division stationed in the Volgograd region, aide to the district commander Colonel Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.
"Permanent-readiness units are practicing arrangement and conduction of an offensive involving the crossing of a stream, this being the Don River, at the division-level tactical exercise with live firing that started in the Volgograd region under the supervision of North Caucasus military district commander Colonel General Vladimir Bobryshev," Konashenkov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The exercise involves over 8,500 personnel and about 1,600 military hardware pieces, including over 40 planes and helicopters," he said.
According to Konashenkov, nearly 1,600 targets, including over 300 moving targets, have been deployed in the exercise area to imitate the combat environment.
The aide said that about 50 command post exercises and over 2,400 tactical exercises with live firing have been held in the district this year. About 30 percent of joint-arms tactical exercises and range practices have been held at night, he stressed.
The current war games will last until the end of the month.