Western Military District - Exercises

2013

• May 11-15, in the waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas held a joint Russian-Norwegian exercise "Pomor-2013." From the Russian Navy took part in it a large anti-submarine ship of the Northern Fleet, "Vice-Admiral Kulakov".
• June 5-6 - joint Russian-Norwegian naval exercise "Barents 2013" on working search and rescue of persons in distress at sea. From the Northern Fleet of Russia on the teachings brought rescue tug SB-523 ship, IL-38 and Mi-8 helicopter.
• September 20-26 - a joint Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise "West 2013". On the territory of the Russian troops practiced joint operations on polygons and Khmelevka Pravdinsky in the Kaliningrad region, and in Belarus -. At landfills Brest, Gozhsky and Obuz-Lesnaya. Total in Russia in the teaching was attended by about 9.4 thousand. Russian military personnel and more than 200 Belarusian servicemen. It involved about 180 pieces of equipment, including 10 tanks, 40 aircraft and 10 ships of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy.

2014

• February 26 - March 3 passed a sudden comprehensive inspection of combat readiness and operational-tactical exercises of the Western Military District, the 2nd Army of the Central Military District, command of the troops aerospace defense, the Airborne Troops, distant and military transport aircraft. They were attended by about 150 thousand. Soldiers, more than 1,200 pieces of military equipment, up to 90 aircraft, more than 120 helicopters, 880 tanks and up to 80 ships. March 3 the progress of bilateral tactical exercise with the 138th separate motorized rifle brigade of the 6th Army ZVO and the 104th Airborne Assault Regiment of the 76th Guards Air Assault Airborne Division at Training Ground Kirillov watched Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
• 22 May in the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy conducted a sudden inspection of combat readiness of naval aviation anti-submarine forces. Steps sudden introductory tasks crews worked 4 anti-IL-38 and Tu-142 SF naval aviation. It also involved the teaching of 3 supersonic all-weather fighter-interceptor MiG-31 Air Base Command of the 1st Air Force and air defense, anti-submarine forces carried out the cover in the area of ??tasks.
• June - teaching groups of troops (forces) on the operational direction of Kaliningrad. Held simultaneously with the teachings of the NATO Saber Strike 2014 and BALTOPS 2014. According to the Defense Ministry, the number of draws to the teachings in the Kaliningrad region. manpower and resources was comparable to the number of personnel, weapons and military equipment involved in border exercises conducted by NATO countries.

2015

• 16-21 March - spot checks of combat readiness of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, the individual compounds of the Western Military District, and the Airborne Troops. By checking the 38 thousand. Soldiers, 3,360 units of armaments and military equipment, 41 warship, 15 submarines, 110 aircraft and helicopters were involved. The main task of a sudden inspection was to assess the readiness capabilities of forces (troops) of the Northern Fleet to perform tasks of ensuring military security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic region.
• 23-28 August at the site and the airport Struga Red Crosses in the Pskov region. Joint exercises of the Collective Rapid Response Forces (CRRF) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) "Cooperation". It was attended by 2 thousand. Members of national military contingents of the Russian armed forces of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, more than 200 pieces of weapons were involved, military and special equipment, as well as up to 40 aircraft and helicopters.
• 10-16 September at the military firing ranges of the Western Military District of Kirillov (. Leningrad region) and Struga Red (. Pskov region) passed a Russian-Belarussian operational exercise "Shield of the Union - 2015". During the active phase of the exercises more than 8 thousand. Soldiers of both countries have fulfilled the task of keeping the joint mobile defense with the transition to the offensive. It involved more than 400 weapons and military vehicles, 80 combat aircraft and helicopters.
• October 29 - a sudden check the combat readiness of the Black Sea Fleet naval aviation. It involved 15 aircraft and helicopters, which are more than 20 missions carried out during the day.
• 29 October - 5 November - sudden readiness test compounds naval aviation and air defense forces of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy.

2016

• February 8-12 - spot checks YUVO readiness of troops and command and control systems CVO. It was carried out on the territory of the Southern Military District and the CVO, in the waters of the Black and Caspian Seas. Just maneuvers within the boundaries YUVO attended to 8.5 thousand. Soldiers, 900 pieces of military equipment were involved in 50 combat ships, 200 aircraft and helicopters.
• 14-22 June - spot checks of combat and mobilization readiness of military control bodies and the individual depots of weapons and military equipment of all military districts.
• August 16-19 - the teachings of the CSTO Collective Rapid Response "Interaction" in the Pskov region. The maneuvers attended by about 6 thousand. Soldiers, more than 50 aircraft and helicopters.
• August 25-31 - spot checks of combat readiness of the Russian Federation Armed Forces . Participated troops of the Southern, Central and Western military districts, as well as the Northern Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla, Aerospace forces and airborne troops.
• 5-10 September - strategic command-staff exercises "Caucasus-2016" . Gone in the Southern Military District. At different stages of the exercise was attended by about 120 thousand people, but at the same time in the exercises in the southern regions of Russia not more than 12.5 thousand were employed.

The joint strategic exercises Zapad-2021 will be held in September at military training grounds in Belarus and Russia. The concept of the exercises was based on one of the possible options for escalating the military-political situation against the conditional state. Shoigu said that military aviation would be massively used at the Russian-Belarusian exercises.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced 09 June 2021 plans to hold a series of preparatory exercises that will precede the West-2021 strategic command and staff exercise. "Before that [the West 2021 exercise], we will have a whole series of preparatory exercises that accompany any major exercise of this kind," he said at a plenary meeting of the public council under the Ministry of Defense. In general, according to him, a large number of combat training events are planned in addition to "West-2021" by the end of the year. The minister recalled that earlier in the Russian Armed Forces control sudden checks of combat readiness had passed, and expressed bewilderment that they "scared the western neighbors", although they were carried out on a planned basis. "I would like to note that all the events were carried out according to plans and in accordance with international agreements. Nevertheless, for some reason they greatly frightened our western neighbors," Shoigu said.

Improving the effectiveness of combat training through the introduction of new teaching methods and forms of training, mastering modern methods of warfare, preparation for the joint strategic exercise of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation "West-2021" - all these are among the main directions of the daily activities of associations, formations and military units of the Western Military District during summer combat training.

The very concept of the "Syrian experience" and its implementation is not some separate area of ??combat training, but its organic component. In the course of practical training of combat training tasks, we strive to make maximum use of everything that has been accumulated during the conduct of hostilities in modern armed conflicts, including in the Syrian Arab Republic. When conducting tactical, tactical-special and command-staff exercises, we pay special attention to unconventional thinking, avoiding existing stereotypes and using non-standard methods of action when generals and officers solve assigned tasks.

From June to September 2021, a complex of special exercises for all types of support will be held, three of which we will conduct jointly with the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus. Special attention will be paid to the joint solution of tasks by units of the NBC protection troops, engineering troops, logistics and military police.

Modern combat, and this has been confirmed by the Syrian experience, requires commanders of all levels to display military ingenuity, to seek opportunities to mislead the enemy, to force him to act in a manner favorable to us. Therefore, increased attention is paid to the advanced readiness of control systems and all types of support, as well as the covert deployment of the necessary grouping. We will work on all these issues with our Belarusian colleagues during the joint strategic exercise Zapad-2021.