Tajikistan holds opening ceremony for CSTO drills

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. The opening ceremony of the Indestructible Brotherhood 2025 and Barrier 2025 exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) took place in Tajikistan, CSTO Joint Staff Spokesperson Vladislav Shchegrikovich told TASS. "On October 20, a solemn ceremony was held at the Fakhrabad training ground in the Republic of Tajikistan to mark the start of joint trainings with the Peacekeeping Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Indestructible Brotherhood 2025 and a special training with the joint formation of radiation, chemical, and biological protection and medical support for the CSTO, Barrier 2025," the CSTO website quoted him as saying. The ceremony was attended by First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the General Staff of Tajikistan Lieutenant General Bobodzhon Saidzoda, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, Head of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov, as well as defense officials from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan and other invited representatives. "The trainings are being conducted amid an escalating crisis in international relations and continuing potential for conflict in the Central Asian region covered by the CSTO collective security system. The heads of state of the Organization's member countries are taking all necessary measures to develop the forces and means of the collective security system in order to jointly counter modern challenges and threats," Tasmagambetov said in opening remarks. According to him, "in the context of a complex military-political situation and regional instability, CSTO peacekeeping forces must be constantly ready to conduct peacekeeping operations both within the Organization's area of responsibility and beyond it, under a UN mandate," he added. Military contingents from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, as well as operational groups of the CSTO Joint Staff and Secretariat, are participating in the Indestructible Brotherhood 2025 and Barrier 2025 drills, Shchegrikovich noted. In total, the maneuvers involve around 1,500 troops and more than 200 units of military and special equipment, including six helicopters and over 20 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The active phases of the CSTO exercises will coincide with the final stage of the Anti-Terror 2025 drills involving the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries, he explained.

"On October 20, a solemn ceremony was held at the Fakhrabad training ground in the Republic of Tajikistan to mark the start of joint trainings with the Peacekeeping Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Indestructible Brotherhood 2025 and a special training with the joint formation of radiation, chemical, and biological protection and medical support for the CSTO, Barrier 2025," the CSTO website quoted him as saying.

The ceremony was attended by First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the General Staff of Tajikistan Lieutenant General Bobodzhon Saidzoda, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, Head of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov, as well as defense officials from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan and other invited representatives.

"The trainings are being conducted amid an escalating crisis in international relations and continuing potential for conflict in the Central Asian region covered by the CSTO collective security system. The heads of state of the Organization's member countries are taking all necessary measures to develop the forces and means of the collective security system in order to jointly counter modern challenges and threats," Tasmagambetov said in opening remarks. According to him, "in the context of a complex military-political situation and regional instability, CSTO peacekeeping forces must be constantly ready to conduct peacekeeping operations both within the Organization's area of responsibility and beyond it, under a UN mandate," he added.

Military contingents from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, as well as operational groups of the CSTO Joint Staff and Secretariat, are participating in the Indestructible Brotherhood 2025 and Barrier 2025 drills, Shchegrikovich noted. In total, the maneuvers involve around 1,500 troops and more than 200 units of military and special equipment, including six helicopters and over 20 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The active phases of the CSTO exercises will coincide with the final stage of the Anti-Terror 2025 drills involving the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries, he explained.