Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kapustin Yar training ground in the Astrakhan Region to monitor the progress of the main stage of the Kavkaz-2020 strategic command and staff exercise.

“As part of the main stage of the exercises, the units of the Russian Armed Forces, together with the military contingents of Armenia, Belarus, China, Pakistan and Myanmar, are practicing actions to repel an attack, inflict fire damage on the forces of a mock enemy and go on the offensive,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

According to the press service of the RF Ministry of Defense, the latest heavy flamethrower system TOS-2 ("Tosochka") was used for the first time during the exercise.

She destroyed with a barrage of shells in thermobaric equipment TBS-M3 armored columns of a conventional enemy.

In addition, Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems launched cruise missiles.

The Tochka-U tactical missile systems division and the Tornado-S rocket artillery division were also involved in the destruction of the enemy's conditional calculations.

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In addition, the head of state was shown the Terminator tank support combat vehicle, which is equipped with two 30-mm 2A42 cannons, an Attack-T anti-tank missile system, 30-mm automatic grenade launchers and a large-caliber machine gun.

Meanwhile, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov highly appreciated the professionalism of the Russian military personnel.

“Based on the results of the strategic exercises Kavkaz-2020, the heads of foreign delegations of the participating countries will independently assess the work of their military formations.

As for the actions of the Russian servicemen, I can say that they have demonstrated high combat skills and professionalism, "RIA Novosti quotes Gerasimov.

The Kavkaz-2020 strategic command-and-staff exercises (SCSU) started on Monday, September 21, and are being held at the Prudboy (Volgograd Region), Ashuluk (Astrakhan Region), Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan Region), Arzgirsky (Stavropol Territory), Kopan (Krasnodar Territory), as well as in certain areas of the Black and Caspian seas.

The maneuvers involve ground forces, units of the navy, air defense, combat, logistics and technical support, as well as units of the Russian Guard and the Ministry of Emergencies.

In total, about 80 thousand people, 450 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, up to 250 tanks, as well as up to 200 artillery systems and multiple launch rocket systems were involved in the exercises.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense indicated that they follow the requirements of the Vienna Document of 2011, which prohibits the concentration of more than 13 thousand troops under a single operational command.

"At the same time, the maximum number of personnel involved in military units subject to the Vienna Document 2011 in an exercise held under a single operational command will be up to 12,900 military personnel," the defense ministry said.

As Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu stated, the purpose of the Caucasus-2020 exercise is "to assess the ability of the Southern Military District to ensure military security in the south-west of the country."

In addition to the Russian military personnel, the military personnel of Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan also participate in the maneuvers.

The total number of soldiers and officers of foreign armies does not exceed 1,000. At the same time, representatives of Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka are present as observers at the exercises.

It was originally planned that formations from India and Serbia would arrive at Kavkaz-2020.

However, in late August, New Delhi reported that Indian troops would not come to Russia due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Belgrade noted in early September that they had introduced a moratorium on the participation of their armed forces in international military games.

Note that a series of military maneuvers took place in the south of Russia before the start of the Caucasus-2020 exercises, one of the main activities of which was a sudden check of the combat readiness of the troops of the Southern and Western military districts, the Airborne Forces, marine units of all fleets and the Caspian Flotilla.

It took place from 17 to 21 July.

The check, as Sergei Shoigu noted, was also carried out to assess the ability of the RF Armed Forces to ensure security in the south-west of the country, where a terrorist threat remains.

The head of the Ministry of Defense, summing up the results of the surprise check, stressed that the measures taken showed that there was no decrease in the combat effectiveness of the Russian army due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The surprise check showed that the decrease in the ability of the Armed Forces to solve tasks as intended was not allowed,” Shoigu said.