Russia mulls training ranges for all military districts

Russia is planning to construct training ranges at its four military districts, to facilitate hosting of large-scale exercises involving all branches of its armed forces, First Deputy Defence Minister general Arkady Bakhin revealed.

In an interview with Echo Moskvy radio, Bakhin said the first such training range is being built in the Nizhny Novgorod region for the Western Military District.

Construction of the range, which is also known as Mulino, is expected to be complete in the summer 2014, according to Bakhin.

"A contract for the construction of the second range, based on the Ashuluk training facility in the Southern Military District, has been signed," Bakhin added.

Anticipated to be complete in 2017, the training range's size and advanced equipment will enable the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) to train and inspect combat capabilities of large military units, including entire armies.

The Eastern Military District's training range will be constructed near the town of Tsugol in Siberia, while the potential site for the training facility in the Central Military District is yet to be determined, according to Bakhin.

The Russian Army conducted approximately 3,000 drills in 2013, 400 of which involved multiple army branches, and has around 29 international military exercises lined up for the next year, RIA Novosti reports, citing the First Deputy Defence Minister.

Currently preparing to hold the country's biggest military drill of 2014 in the country's eastern region, Moscow also announced plans to conduct separate joint exercises with China and Mongolia in the next year.