MAHACHKALA, Russia, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Ten days of Russian intra-military training exercises in Dagestan ended on Friday.
RETWA news agency reported that troops from the Russian Interior Ministry, Air Force, Air Defense, North Caucasus Border Security, Federal Security Service and Caspian Sea Fleet all participated in the exercises, which not only involved defending national territory against foreign invasion but included special operations against militant groups.
The scale of the exercise was unprecedented for the region; Military Commissioner of Dagestan Gen. Lt. Magomed Tinamaomedov said, "Exercises of this kind had not been held in 10 years."
At the time of the Dagestani deployments Russian military units on the southeastern borders of the Rusain federation were also carrying out military training exercises on the Russian-Uzbek border. The joint military exercises were the first ever held solely between Russia and Uzbekistan. The exercises have been in planning since last year, analysts say they could not come at a better time for Uzbekistan. Russia and Uzbekistan have participated in multinational exercises alongside other nations' forces, but never had they engaged in military exercises involving just the two of them.
The operations began on Sept. 19 and ended five days later. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Uzbek Defense Minister Kadyr Gulomov oversaw 400 joint military anti-terror troops deploy to destroy enemy forces traveling through a gorge, with both ministers labeling the exercise a success.
