A series of exercises in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China demonstrates Russia's military power and its stabilizing role in the world
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, joint exercises with Russia began on August 2 to test the interaction of troops in order to repel terrorist invasion attempts from the territory of neighboring Afghanistan. Fortunately, the maneuvers themselves began exactly twenty kilometers from the border with this country, where the local puppet pro-American government is collapsing. And this is only the first of a chain of military exercises that will take place in the near future and are designed to strengthen the barrier against the possible penetration of militants into the Soviet republics of Central Asia.
In general, they are part of the agreements reached as a result of negotiations between Sergei Shoigu and the leadership of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in May and July of this year, as well as joint decisions made at a meeting of the heads of military departments of the CSTO and SCO countries. The purpose of these maneuvers and joint actions was then clearly formulated by the Russian Minister of Defense in military terms: “practical actions will be worked out to inflict fire damage and destroy gangs, conduct aerial reconnaissance and strengthen the security of important objects.”
An important factor is that all planned exercises in the region will involve and are taking part in the troops of Uzbekistan, which is not formally a member of the CSTO, but has already realized the importance of integrating into the overall system of collective security in order to form a common defensive wall under the auspices of Russia.
Currently, one and a half thousand military personnel from the two countries are taking part in the exercises at the Termez mountain range in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan. From Russia, units from the Central Military District (CMD) take part in them. In total, about 200 units of military equipment were involved in the development of training tasks, including aviation - a flight of attack aircraft from the Russian Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan. This suggests that this neighboring republic, which is also an important outpost of the unified system, is also logistically involved in the exercises.
It should be noted that the Kant airbase is the aviation component of the CSTO Collective Rapid Deployment Forces. It is there that Su-25 attack aircraft and Mi-8MTV helicopters are located, which must provide immediate fire support to ground troops during real combat clashes with the enemy in the event of their infiltration or breakthrough into the territory of the former Soviet Central Asian republics bordering Afghanistan.
At the same time, the military leadership of the two countries attaches great importance to these joint exercises, and proof of this is that they were opened with the participation of high-ranking officers of the two countries.
“In their welcoming speech, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Central Military District, Major General Nikolai Tereshchenko and the Deputy Minister of Defense of Uzbekistan for Combat Training, Colonel Kadyr Tursunov, wished the military personnel successful interaction during the implementation of combat training tasks, and also expressed confidence that the joint exercise will further strengthen bilateral cooperation,” – noted in the press service of the Central Military District command.
Based on the results of the maneuvers, an analysis will be made of the effectiveness of joint actions and the success of completed tasks for the interaction of different units and their headquarters. Interestingly, in parallel with these exercises, tactical and special exercises of units of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan “Combat Commonwealth - 2021” took place at a special base of the Uzbek armed forces.
It is noteworthy that immediately after the completion of these, from August 5 to 10, new exercises begin in the Khatlon region of neighboring Tajikistan at the Harb-Maidon training ground with the participation of Russian, Tajik and Uzbek troops, which is 20 kilometers from the Afghan border. This is a new, more serious scale of joint action.
200 Uzbek military personnel have already arrived there, and Russia intends to increase its contingent, which will amount to 1800 people and up to 420 pieces of equipment during the exercises. In general, 2500 military personnel from three countries and more than 500 units of military equipment will be involved in these maneuvers. As in Uzbekistan, actions will be practiced here to eliminate terrorist detachments that have broken through from neighboring Afghanistan.
The backbone of the Russian units in these exercises will be units of the 201st military base, including mountain motorized rifle, tank, and artillery units. Also from the Central Military District, units of a separate special-purpose formation, specialists from electronic warfare and radiochemical defense units will be involved in the exercise. That is, this time great importance is given to radiation, chemical and biological protection, since it is possible that militants could use weapons of mass destruction, as well as UAVs.
As we can see, the scale of all these exercises is more than serious for the region, where such maneuvers have not been held for a long time, and even with such a composition of participants. The most important indicator is the predominant and leading role of the Russian army in these training preparatory activities, which suggests that Moscow is protecting its allies and guarding their borders and security. This once again emphasizes the stabilizing nature of Russia’s entire policy in Central Asia, which, in alliance with China, seeks to prevent the spread of instability from Afghanistan to the entire post-Soviet space and neighboring powers.
Therefore, the next stage of Russian military participation in the joint actions of the allies will be exercises on Chinese territory, where the tasks of interaction between the two largest and strongest armies in the world will be worked out. Earlier, Sergei Shoigu, at a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries in Dushanbe, kindly accepted the invitation of his Chinese colleague Wei Fenghe to personally attend these maneuvers, scheduled from August 9 to 13.
And it is no coincidence that the leader of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) subsequently stated that the arrival of the Russian Minister of War “will please both powers, but some countries will obviously not like it.” Indeed, during the Sibu/Interaction 2021 exercise, more than 13 thousand military personnel from both countries will take part at the Qingtongxia training ground. Such large-scale events should clearly cool the ardor of the United States and NATO to expand the source of permanent chaos at the hands of ISIS and other mercenaries, as well as warn against provocations of various kinds.
It is not for nothing that Russian military specialists from the Eastern Military District (EMD) are already learning to drive wheeled tanks and armored vehicles of the PLA, as well as to use their weapons. We are talking about mastering each other’s technology and providing support in the event of repelling aggression from just those very “certain countries”. Therefore, Sergei Shoigu’s visit to these maneuvers will once again demonstrate to the West Russia’s desire to achieve peace and stability in Central Asia and other regions adjacent to the borders of the two great powers.
Therefore, all these exercises in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China, which are taking place almost simultaneously, clearly show a high level of consolidation, characteristic of a military alliance in which Russia plays the leading role, building a rampart against the forces of chaos and destruction. And now only such methods can stop the negative processes launched by the Americans after the occupation and inglorious flight from Afghanistan.
Ainur Kurmanov
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