CSTO launches Rubezh-2026 military drills in Kazakhstan

The active phase of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Rubezh-2026 military exercises has begun at the Koktal training ground in Kazakhstan, the CSTO Joint Staff Spokesperson Vladislav Schegrikovich said. 

The drills involve the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the CSTO’s Central Asian Region and focus on preparing for and conducting combat operations against illegal armed groups that have entered the territory of a CSTO member state, Russian media reports.

CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Mirlan Turgunbekov, Major General Askar Zholamanov, deputy chief of the General Staff of Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces, and Lieutenant General Ruslan Shpekbaev, deputy chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, attended the opening ceremony, along with other officials.

By Sabina Mammadli