Putin praises armed forces' performance in March exercise
SOCHI, Russia. May 13 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has expressed satisfaction with the results of surprise maneuvers late in March that aimed to test the battle readiness of armed forces stationed in southern Russia.
"On the whole I believe that the entire personnel coped with the tasks set to them," Putin told a conference on Monday that discussed the exercise, held on March 28-29. He thanked the Defense Ministry, the General Staff, and the personnel of the Southern Military District.
The services the exercise brought together included airborne, special and naval forces.
"We can say now, and we have spoken about it in the past as well, and those surprise tests have confirmed again where our weak links are. It's primarily communications and some other components of combat work," Putin said. "Tests of this kind, surprise tests, aren't parades, although a parade is quite a difficult enterprise as well."