Briefing by Andrei Serdyukov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff

The Chief of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Colonel-General Andrei Nikolaevich Serdyukov, has today given a briefing on the subject of “Preparedness of the CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization's management bodies and formations of forces and means for the conduct of joint trainings”.

Representatives of the press services of the defense departments and mass media of the CSTO member states took part in the event via videoconferencing.

The following information is based on the briefing materials.

We have reached the final stage in the training of the management bodies and formations of the forces and means of the CSTO's collective security system – a set of joint trainings to be held in September and October this year.

When planning joint activities, we took into account the experience of modern armed conflicts, in particular the special military operation, the war in Syria and the Arab-Israeli confrontation. The constantly changing forms and methods of combat operations require their in-depth analysis, study and mastery in the course of operational and combat training.

For the most effective conduct of the trainings and further development of the Troops (Collective Forces), we have planned to study the issues that are topical today:

organization of air cover for military contingents at the stage of their regrouping and during operational deployment;

interaction between the Commands and the air defense forces and means of the armed forces of the Organization's member states in the preparation and conduct of combat operations.

We plan to consider these issues with the involvement of profile specialists from the basic training and methodological and research organizations of the CSTO, as well as other military educational and research institutions of the Organization's member states.

Joint training activities in 2024 have been planned and are being carried out in accordance with the Plan approved by the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils in order to ensure the readiness of the management bodies and the formations of the forces and means of the collective security system to carry out their earmarked tasks.

The main tasks of joint training of management bodies and formations of forces and means are defined:

Improvement of mechanisms for making and implementing decisions on the use of forces and means;

Improving coherence and interoperability in the actions of command and control bodies and formations during the preparation and conduct of joint operations;

development and testing of new variants of the Troops (Collective Forces) command and control system.

It is also important to note that one of the priorities identified by the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is chairing the Organization in 2024, is to improve the issues of ensuring the operational deployment of Troops (Collective Forces), including the unimpeded transit of contingents.

Every year, joint training becomes more intense. During our events, we pay special attention to the use of unmanned aircraft and countering them, as well as to the development of electronic warfare and firearms, which is currently the most relevant on the battlefield.

This year, as part of military-technical cooperation, agreements have been reached on demonstrating in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan the capabilities of modern weapons and military-technical equipment developed by Russian enterprises of the defense-industrial complex. Also during each of our events, demonstrations of new armaments and military equipment of the Organization's member states will be organized.

In order to ensure high-quality preparations for the trainings, the Joint Staff, together with the CSTO Secretariat and the defense agencies of the Organization's member states, has carried out a range of activities, including consultations, separate and joint staff trainings, a strategic command-staff training, staff talks, working meetings to develop and agree on training plans and reconnaissance of training areas.

The main activity of the operational and combat training of the Troops (Collective Forces) is the “Interaction-2024” command-staff training with the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) being held in the Kyrgyz Republic in the first half of September. In the interests of the CRRF, special trainings will be held with the forces and means of intelligence “Search-2024” and with the forces and means of logistics “Echelon-2024”.

The trainings are aimed at practicing the use of forces and means to resolve a crisis situation.

It should be emphasized that the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces are a universal instrument of the collective security system that makes it possible to respond adequately to all existing challenges and threats.

During the trainings, the following will be practically accomplished: bringing the contingents of the Collective Forces to the highest levels of combat readiness, creating a grouping, preparing and conducting a joint operation to resolve the armed conflict.

The training and combat tasks will also involve the air defense forces and means of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic and the allocated composition of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Joint Air Defense System.

In early October, we will conduct a command-staff training with the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces “Indestructible Brotherhood-2024” on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

During the trainings, it is planned to work on the regrouping of national contingents, the formation of a Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF) in the designated area, and the planning and conduct of a peacekeeping operation.

The work of the CPF Command will be based on the decisions taken during the strategic command and staff training referred to above. Given the importance of the electronic warfare system, the joint use of the forces and means of electronic warfare of the Organization's member states will also be worked out.

It should be noted that in the Republic of Kazakhstan in January 2022, for the first time, the CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Forces were actually deployed to normalize the situation in connection with the emergence of a threat to the security, stability and sovereignty of the country, caused, inter alia, by outside interference. The Heads of State praised this peacekeeping operation.

At the final stage in mid-October, a joint training “Rubezh-2024”, with units of the Central Asian Regional Rapid Deployment Collective Force (CAR CRDF) will be held on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, which are intended to participate in repelling external military aggression and in joint general military, counter-terrorist and special operations.

In the conditions of mountainous and desert terrain, tasks are planned to be practiced, including the training of control bodies, the regrouping of military contingents, and the planning and conduct of combat operations to eliminate illegal armed groups.

On the eve of the training, a conference will be held on the development, training and use of the forces and means of the collective security system, and an operational meeting will be held with the Command of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian region in order to organize interaction between military authorities during the planning of the operation.

Emphasizing the significance of these events, the personal participation of CSTO Secretary General Imangali Nurgaliyevich Tasmagambetov has been planned for the final stages of the training.

The results of the joint trainings will be summarized and studied in detail, and their results will be subject to further implementation in practice.

I should like to stress that the planned activities with the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) are aimed at the collective defense of the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Organization's member states, fully comply with international norms and are not directed against other countries.

Representatives of non-CSTO member states have been invited as observers to the trainings in the Kyrgyz Republic: the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Nations Secretariat, the SCO Secretariat, the Executive Committee and the CIS Anti-Terrorist Center.

In addition, the final stage on 11 September will be attended by parliamentarians participating in the meeting of the Coordination Meeting of the Chairmen of the Committees (Commissions) on Defense and Security of the Parliaments of the Organization's member states under the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

In total, the joint, command-staff and special trainings will involve: personnel of more than 5,000 people and more than 900 units of weapons, military and special equipment.

Practical arrangements for the movement of Troops (Collective Forces) to the training areas will begin on 4 September. Contingents and equipment are being transported to the training grounds by air, rail and road.

At that stage, the CSTO Crisis Response Centre is planning the organization of a reinforced duty shift to monitor the regrouping and deployment of military contingents in the designated areas.

To date, extensive preparatory work has been done. Given the scope of the tasks and activities carried out, I am confident that the joint trainings will be organized and of high quality, and that the training and research objectives will be achieved. The collective forces will show high field training and coherence.