OPUK Training Range (Crimea) – Major command-and-staff exercises of the Russian Airborne Forces engaging the Black Sea Fleet and the Aerospace Forces and featuring live fire drills began at the Opuk training range in Crimea on March 20, Airborne Forces Commander Col. Gen. Andrei Serdyukov, who supervises the exercises, told reporters.
“The exercises involve servicemen of the Novorossiysk (mountain) air assault brigade and the Kamyshin and Ulan-Ude separate air assault brigades. Certain forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Fourth Air Force and Air Defense Army of the Southern Military District will join the exercises, as well,” Serdyukov said.
“For the first time in the Russian army’s history, three formations were simultaneously alerted and partially deployed to Crimea together with their weapons and hardware for the Airborne Forces’ drills. In all, the exercises at the Opuk training range engage over 2,500 paratroopers and about 600 pieces of military hardware,” Serdyukov said.
