Military exercises of CSTO rapid response forces involving Belarusian servicemen begin near Pskov

National military contingents of the armed forces of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are involved in the military exercises.

The Interaction 2015 exercises of the collective rapid response forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) were opened at the base of the 76th Guards Airborne division in the Pskov region (Russia), Interfax news agency reports.

“We are now carrying out drills in the Eastern European region. One of the main tasks of the exercises is to make our forces ready to arrive in a region of the collective security within several hours, Colonel-General Valery Semerikov, CSTO deputy general secretary, said at the opening ceremony.

The military exercises will be held on the Strugi Krasniye central training range of the Russian Airborne Force in the Pskov region and at the Kresty aerodrome. Military contingents of the armed forces of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan take part in the exercises.

Joint exercises Interaction involving military contingents and formations of special task forces in the composition of the CSTO rapid response forces have been carried out annually since 2009. They are held in one of CSTO member states. They were carried out in Kazakhstan for the first time. Russia hosted exercises in 2010 on a training range in the South Ural region.