MOSCOW, Sept. 1 -- Vostok 2022 strategic command post exercise kicked off at the Sergeevskyi training ground in Ussurisk, a city in Russian Far East on August 31. China, Algeria, India, Belarus, Tajikistan, Mongolia and other countries have sent troops to participate in the exercise.
At the opening ceremony, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Yunus-bek Yevkurov announced the start of the exercise, followed by the opening remarks made by the commanders of participating troops from various countries. A march-past was held at the ceremony.
The exercises aim to deepen pragmatic and friendly cooperation among militaries of participating countries, enhance the level of strategic cooperation among all participating parties, and strengthen their capability to jointly deal with various security threats. The exercises will be carried out in four stages: troops assembly and deployment, joint campaign planning, joint campaign implementation, and troops withdrawal, with an exercise director department and a joint campaign command organization organized jointly by the participating troops.
The Chinese participating troops are mainly composed of the army, navy and air force units from the PLA Northern Theater Command, with more than 2,000 members, as well as more than 300 vehicles and equipment of various types, 21 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and three ships. In the past ten days, the Chinese troops had completed cross-border delivery tasks by means of motorized marching, railway transportation, maritime maneuvering, and air transportation.
As one of the Russian military's four major strategic drills, the Vostok series have an important position in the Russian military exercise system. This year’s Vostok 2022 will be held at several training grounds and sea areas in Russia’s Eastern Military District, and will last until September 7, with a total force of over 50,000 troops and more than 5,000 pieces of armaments and military hardware.
