22nd anniversary of the establishment of the CSTO Joint Staff

28 April is the Day of Establishment of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We recall that on 28 April 2003. in the city of Dushanbe, the Collective Security Council, guided by the need to establish a military staff body responsible for the implementation of the tasks of the military component of the Collective Security Treaty, adopted a decision on the establishment of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Today the CSTO Joint Staff, headed by Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov, is entrusted by the Heads of State with tasks related to coalition military construction, joint operational and combat training of the components of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces), military-technical cooperation, coordination of joint training of personnel and specialists for the armed forces of the member states, and organization of the functioning of the CSTO Crisis Response Centre.

For more than two decades, with the direct involvement of the military personnel of the Joint Staff, the necessary normative legal framework governing the Organization's activities has been developed and is being continuously improved. To date, 62 international treaties have been concluded on the most fundamental issues of interstate cooperation in the sphere of collective security, and more than 1,800 documents have been signed at the level of heads of states, secretaries of security councils and heads of key ministries - defense and foreign affairs - of our states.

Within the framework of coalition military construction, the Joint Staff, in cooperation with the CSTO Secretariat and the ministries and departments concerned in the CSTO member states, is paying great attention to the development of all components of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces). Under the organizational and coordinating role of the Joint Staff, the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces for the Central Asian Region (CAR CRDF), the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF), the Collective Aviation Forces and the CSTO Peacekeeping Force are being further developed. In order to ensure an adequate and effective response to contemporary challenges and threats to collective security, work is under way to create new elements within the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces). For example, in 2022, in connection with the emergence of threats to biological security, a joint formation for CSTO NBC protection and medical support was established by decision of the heads of states.

At the present stage, the Joint Staff pays great attention to improving the CSTO's crisis response mechanisms. In the interests of improving the monitoring of the politico-military situation, enhancing the reliability of information and also the timely identification of challenges and threats in the regions of collective security, the Joint Staff cooperates with the Coordination Service of the Commanders of the Border Troops and the Anti-Terrorist Centre of the CIS member states.

Joint operational and combat training of the forces and means of the collective security system has been one of the priority tasks of the Joint Staff since its establishment.  Almost every year, under the organizing role of the Staff in the Organization's format, a whole series of joint and special trainings are conducted in the CSTO collective security regions, including with the Central African Republic's CAR CRDG “Rubezh” (held since 2004); with the CSTO CRRF “Interaction” (since 2009); with the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces “Indestructible brotherhood” (since 2012); with forces and means of intelligence units and services “Search” (since 2016); with the Collective Aviation Forces “Air Bridge” (since 2018), with forces and means of logistical support “Echelon” (since 2019); with the joint formation of NBC protection and medical support “Barrier” (since 2023). Since 2017, the highest form of joint training in the CSTO format has been the joint operational-strategic training “Combat Brotherhood”. In total, over the years of the Organization's existence, more than 80 joint trainings have been conducted with various components of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces).

In the area of military-technical cooperation, joint work is continuing with the CSTO Secretariat to develop and improve the Organization's regulatory legal framework and to carry out practical measures to equip the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) with modern weapons, military and special equipment and special means.

To date, on the initiative of the Joint Staff, by decisions of the CSTO bodies, the status of basic training and methodological organizations has been given to 12 military educational institutions that provide training in the following specialties: general military, air defense, missile forces and artillery, military air defense, communications, logistics, information security, electronic warfare, training of personnel of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces, medical and pharmaceutical specialties, as well as training of personnel responsible for the protection of civilians.

In the current conditions of increasing challenges and threats to collective security, the Joint Staff, as the most important element of the CSTO's collective security system, continues to carry out activities to ensure the Organization's readiness to respond adequately and effectively to possible crisis situations, to solve the tasks of developing the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) and to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Organization's member states.