CMD formations advance to designated areas as part of sudden checks - ministry
MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The 15th and 23rd Separate Motor Rifle Brigades of the Second Army of the Central Military District (CMD), who have earlier been put on alert, are performing an 800-kilometer march as part of an inspection of the combat readiness of troops (forces) of the Western Military District (WMD) and the CMD and the Airborne Troops Command.
"The troops are marching into the designated area to practice combat-training tasks in an unknown area," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement obtained by Interfax-AVN on Friday.
Military transport aircraft redeployed about 20 mobile control stations and special vehicles of the formation into the designated area. The Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft performed ten flights to redeploy the subdivisions, the Defense Ministry said.
Over 300 pieces of military hardware are marching to a training site in the Kazan area. "After completing the march, the highly mobile subdivisions armed with mobile wheeled armored vehicles and heavy-duty Ural trucks will immediately start performing combat-training tasks in an unknown area," the statement said.
Upon their arrival to the training site of a branch of the Russian Armed Forces Combined-Arms Academy (the city of Kazan), the 15th and 23rd Separate Motor Rifle Brigades of the CMD Second Army "will be performing the tasks specified by officers from the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, who are conducting and monitoring the course of the inspection," the statement said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has been conducting a sudden comprehensive inspection of the combat readiness of troops of the WMD, the CMD Second Army and the Airborne Command since February 26, 2014, at the behest of the Russian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief. The effort will involve up to 90 aircraft, over 120 helicopters, up to 880 tanks, over 1,200 pieces of military hardware and up to 80 ships and vessels.
The inspection will last until March 3, 2014.