In the Southern Military District, special exercises have started under the general leadership of Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, the press service of the RF Ministry of Defense reports. The events cover landfills in the Volgograd, Rostov and Astrakhan regions, Dagestan and Crimea.

"In total, about 6 thousand servicemen will take part in special exercises on the types of support for the actions of troops (forces) and up to 750 units of weapons, military and special equipment will be involved," the military department's website says.

During the maneuvers, which will last until August 21, the army units of the Southern Military District must work out a set of tasks for the material, technical, engineering, medical, hydrometeorological and navigation support of the ground forces, the Navy and the Aerospace Forces. There are also planned activities in the field of radiation, chemical and biological protection.

Control stage

Special maneuvers in the Southern Military District are a control stage in verifying the readiness of troops for the Kavkaz-2020 strategic command and staff exercises, which will be held in September and will become the largest military event of the RF Armed Forces this year.

"Before the start of the Kavkaz-2020 command and control squadron, it is necessary to work out the interaction of troops, headquarters, check the readiness of commanders and military command bodies to organize serious events of a strategic scale," Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, explained in an interview with RT.

Preparations for Kavkaz-2020 started at the beginning of the year. So, in March, the commission headed by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov examined the areas of the draw of tactical episodes and checked the state of the training grounds of the Southern Military District.

At the end of July, as part of preparations for the Caucasus-2020, the Southern Military District and the Transcaucasus embraced large-scale battalion exercises of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units. More than 10 thousand people took part in them.

The emphasis in the maneuvers was made on live firing, which took place at training ranges in the Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions, in the Stavropol Territory, in Dagestan, North Ossetia, Adygea, Chechnya and Crimea, as well as at Russian military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 

In mid-July, units of the Southern Military District were involved in a surprise check of troops, announced by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

During the check, units deployed in the south of Russia, with standard equipment and weapons, made marches to the concentration areas. In addition to ground forces, the redeployment was carried out by air formations, as well as ship groupings of the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla.

The actions of the army units were observed by officers of the General Staff. In total, about 150 thousand servicemen, more than 400 aircraft, over 26 thousand units of military equipment, more than 100 ships and support vessels were involved in the surprise check.

  • The landing of the landing of the Marine Corps of the Navy
  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

On August 5, speaking at the National Center for Defense Management, the head of the Russian military department, Sergei Shoigu, explained that the purpose of the surprise check was to obtain an objective picture of the state of the army and navy after quarantine measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as before the start of the command and control squad in the south of the country.

“The surprise check showed that no decrease in the ability of the Armed Forces to perform tasks as intended was allowed. The troops and forces involved acted professionally. At all stages of verification activities, strict compliance with safety requirements, safety of weapons and ammunition was ensured, ”Shoigu said.

As Viktor Murakhovsky emphasized, checks of this kind make it possible to assess the real level of combat readiness of troops, military command and control bodies and rear services to repel threats from any aggressor. According to the results of inspections, deficiencies are identified and ways to eliminate them are determined, the expert specified. 

Professionalism exam

The exact date of the start of "Caucasus-2020" has not yet been announced. Also, the Ministry of Defense has not yet talked about the number of forces involved, although since last year it is known that 17 foreign contingents will take part in the maneuvers.

Experts believe that the upcoming command and control squadron will take place in approximately the same scenario as the Kavkaz-2016 exercise, where the interaction of the units of the Ground Forces, the fleet and aviation was worked out.

In 2016, the number of the grouping concentrated in the south of Russia did not go beyond the Vienna Document of 2011 and amounted to 12.5 thousand people. However, the command and control squads turned out to be quite large-scale, since in total in various regions of the country more than 120 thousand servicemen performed combat training tasks.

In recent years, the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces has traditionally conducted strategic command and staff exercises in different geographic areas of the country. So, in 2017, the MPS were held in the north-western regions of the Russian Federation ("West-2017"), in 2018 - in Siberia and the Far East ("East-2018"), in 2019 - in the Central Military District ("Center -2019 ").

According to analysts, such a procedure for conducting maneuvers ensures a systematic check of the combat readiness of troops in various regions of the country and contributes to the even development of military districts. In this context, "Kavkaz-2020" is a serious test for the groups located in the south of the Russian Federation.

"Russophobic alarmism"

On June 1, at a press briefing, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Sergei Rudskoy, said that Moscow's military activity does not pose any threat to foreign states. Moreover, the Russian Ministry of Defense seeks to de-escalate the situation in Europe and this year has not begun to conduct major exercises near the borders of NATO countries.

As part of this policy, "Caucasus-2020" will be held in the depths of the territory of the Russian Federation. Rudskoy also noted that the General Staff is ready "to adjust the exercise areas on a parity basis with the alliance."

  • Servicemen of the RF Armed Forces
  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

To date, NATO has not publicly expressed concern about the SPS in southern Russia. Nevertheless, Kiev suggested that the alliance still has certain concerns on this score. So, according to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar, "any exercise can quickly enough go into the active phase of hostilities."

“The opinion about the possibility of a military offensive is shared by a significant number of military experts and analysts. NATO also understands how realistic it is to use Russia's military potential against Ukraine, and its activation is possible just in the near future, "Bodnar said in a June interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Russophobic alarmism" of Ukrainian diplomacy is supported by the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, political analysts say. According to the Ministry of Defense of the republic, within the framework of the Caucasus-2020, Russia allegedly plans to transfer about 120 thousand servicemen, 3 thousand armored vehicles, at least 500 tanks, 300 aircraft, 250 helicopters, 50 ships and up to 5 submarines to the border with Ukraine.

“All types of reconnaissance have been strengthened to clarify the concept of the exercises (Kavkaz-2020), determine the areas of deployment of troops, whether they will return to their places of permanent deployment after the exercises. It is also being investigated whether other actions are possible under the cover of the exercises, ”Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said in an interview with Segodnya on July 20.

In response to Kavkaz-2020, the Armed Forces intend to conduct their own command-staff exercises "United Efforts - 2020" with the possible involvement of units of NATO countries.

In an interview with RT, the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, emphasized that the alarmist sentiments that Ukraine is trying to "inflate" are devoid of any sense. He noted that Kavkaz-2020 is aimed exclusively at increasing the combat readiness of the troops responsible for the security of a strategically important geographical area.

“All fears about military exercises are caused by the real growth of the combat capability of the Russian troops. They always criticize the one who is strong. In this context, we can say with confidence that the Southern Military District is capable of solving the most difficult combat missions in the event of military threats to Russia, "Mikhailov concluded.