The surprise inspection of the Central Military District (CMD) involves the CMD command staff and troops, parts of the air forces from the other Military Districts, the Airborne Troops and Military-Transport Aviation, says Col. Gen. Andrei Kartopolov, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff.
"In all, there will be around 95,000 personnel, over 7,000 weapons and pieces of military hardware and about 170 aircraft," he said at a briefing for foreign military attaches on Sept.7.
"To raise the level of trust and to increase transparency of our military activity, we continue the practice of informing about military drills, including surprise checks, carried out at the behest of the Russian president and under plans of the Russian Defense Ministry," said Kartopolov, adding that the CMD surprise inspection began on Sept.7 at the behest of the Supreme Commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin.
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