23.05.2021.
Minister Stefanović attends exercise conducted by members of 72nd Special Operations Brigade and 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade at Orešac
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Milan Mojsilović, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Army General Nikolai Pankov, Deputy Minister of Defence General Alexander Fomin and Ambassador of the Russian Federation Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko attended today a tactical live fire exercise conducted by Serbian and Russian special forces at the "Orešac" range.
It is the final stage of a seven-day training conducted by members of the Serbian Armed Forces 72nd Special Operations Brigade and the Russian 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade.– The purpose of the Serbian and Russian special forces training conducted over the past seven days was to practice peacekeeping, more specifically for commands and units to exchange experiences, transfer knowledge, skills and habits in modern counter-terrorism - said the Commander of the 72nd Special Operations Brigade and the commander of today's exercise, Brigadier General Miroslav Talijan, adding that today's exercise was the crown of that joint training.
He also emphasized that about 200 members of the Serbian Armed Forces and as many members of the Russian Armed Forces had participated in the joint training, and 14 modern combat vehicles, six vessels and four aircraft had been used.
Today's tactical live fire exercise consisted of four segments. Special forces first demonstrated the aerial, ground and naval reconnaissance procedures for gathering intelligence on a terrorist group. This was followed by an attack on the terrorist forces and handling the incidence of vehicle hijack, while the last stage of the dynamic display was the evacuation of forces after the destruction of the terrorists and securing the facility.
The means used in the exercise were Mi-17, Mi-8 and "Gazelle" helicopters, "Tigr", "Miloš" and "HMMWV" combat vehicles, state-of-the-art small arms, optoelectronic devices and special forces’ equipment, including assault boats and "Arbalet" parachutes that allow airborne landing at speeds of 350 kilometres per hour. Complex techniques of water surface landing and fast-roping were demonstrated.After today's demonstration, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, Army General Nikolai Pankov, said he was deeply honoured to attend the joint exercise in the Republic of Serbia, also commenting on today's event in Niš, the handover of the Russian-made armament to the Serbian Armed Forces, T-72 MS tanks and BRDM-2MS armoured reconnaissance vehicles.
– Members of our armed forces have shown a high level of combat readiness and the ability to ensure cooperation and carry out joint tasks in the shortest possible time. Our armed forces joint training is not directed against anyone, and is another confirmation of Russian-Serbian friendship - Army General Pankov pointed out and noted that the bilateral military cooperation between Serbia and Russia was at a high level in recent years and that there was readiness to promote it further.
By order of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, 15 members of the Serbian Armed Forces and 15 members of the Russian Armed Forces were awarded the Medal for Strengthening Combat Cooperation, for exceptional personal results achieved during the preparation and execution of the joint Russian-Serbian exercise. The medals were presented to the winners by Generals Pankov and Fomin, and Minister Stefanović and General Mojsilović congratulated the decorated.
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERY23.05.2021
mp4 (412,71 MB)Exercise
