Top military officials from key nations attend CSTO drills in Kyrgyzstan

Representatives from the armed forces and diplomatic sectors of China, Türkiye, UK, US, and various other Western nations attended the exercises held by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kyrgyzstan.

The Unified Press Centre for the exercises reported that the final stage and closing ceremony were attended by several high military officials, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic, Major General Ruslan Mukambetov, the CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, and Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov.

Moreover, a delegation from the Coordination Council of Chairs of Defence and Security Committees of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly member states, along with accredited diplomatic representatives in Kyrgyzstan from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Korea, Poland, the USA, Türkiye, France, and Japan took part in the event.

Representatives from both the International Committee of the Red Cross and the OSCE were present.

Notably, Kyrgyzstan has officially commenced the Interaction-2024 command-staff exercise, along with the Search-2024 and Echelon-2024 special exercises, at the Edelweiss training range.

The opening ceremony marked the start of these significant military drills involving the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Rapid Reaction Force.

Around 1,500 servicemen and up to 300 units of military and special equipment will be engaged in the exercises. This equipment includes various types of aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), combat boats, and air defence systems.

Military personnel from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are participating in the exercises, which are being conducted at the Edelweiss training ground.