Moscow. July 8. INTERFAX-The Army Corps of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation held exercises with live firing of T-72B3 tanks at the training ground near Simferopol, the fleet said on Thursday.
The tankers ' exercises took place at the Angarsky training ground in the Crimea against the background of the Sea Breeze maneuvers conducted by NATO countries and their allies in the Black Sea region.
"At the Angarsky training ground in the Republic of Crimea, the crews of T-72B3 tanks of the coastal defense unit of the Army Corps of the Black Sea Fleet performed live firing from standard weapons. Shooting at suddenly appearing targets, simulating combat vehicles, RPG calculations and helicopters of a conditional enemy, was carried out by tankers at distances from 1000 to 2000 meters," the press service of the Black Sea Fleet said in a statement.
About 200 servicemen and about 10 T-72B3 tanks took part in the execution of live firing, the fleet said.
On July 7, the Izvestia newspaper, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, reported that the 126th separate Coastal Defense Brigade in Crimea began receiving modernized T-72B3M tanks.
On July 7, the Black Sea Fleet announced the start of missile and artillery exercises in the Crimea with the participation of more than 800 servicemen and more than 150 units of military and special equipment.
"The completion of the camp gathering will be the conduct of artillery firing with the development of various tactical methods of conducting combat by artillery units," the Black Sea Fleet said.
The exercises involved multiple launch rocket systems "Grad", 122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Gvozdika", 120-mm howitzers D-30, 120-mm self-propelled artillery installations 2S9 "Nona-S", as well as mortars "Sani" and "Tray".
The Sea Breeze exercises, which will last until July 10, involve 32 warships, 40 aircraft and five thousand military personnel from 17 NATO member countries, as well as alliance partners. In total, military personnel from 32 countries participate.
On July 6, the press service of the Ukrainian Marine Corps Command announced the beginning of the active phase of the coastal component of Sea Breeze. According to the press service, servicemen of a separate battalion of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, the US Marine Corps, the armed forces of Georgia, Moldova, and the border service of Ukraine participate in the coastal part of the maneuvers.
