MOSCOW, 13 Sep-RIA Novosti. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, reported on the progress of the strategic exercises "West-2021" to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin arrived on Monday at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region to observe the active phase of the exercises.
"About 20 thousand personnel, 5,600 units of weapons and military equipment, about 160 tanks and 118 helicopters are taking part. There are 150 representatives of defense departments and military attaches of foreign countries here, " Gerasimov said on the air of Rossiya 24.
Before departing from the exercises, Putin inspected a mobile bakery and an autonomous mobile food point. There, the head of state tried a loaf.
The Zapad-2021 exercise is the final stage of joint training of the armed forces of Belarus and the Russian Federation this year. The practical actions of the troops (forces) take place from September 10 to 16 at nine training grounds located on the territory of the Russian Federation, in the Baltic Sea, as well as at five training grounds in Belarus.
