On July 14, 2026, a working meeting was held at the CSTO Secretariat between CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov and UN Assistant Secretary-General Alexander Zuev.
From July 7 to 9, second staff talks were held in the Russian Federation on the organization and conduct of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) command-and-staff exercise “Interaction-2026”, the special reconnaissance exercise “Poisk-2026”, and the logistics support exercise “Echelon-2026”.
In accordance with the 2026 Action Plan of the Coordinating Council of Heads of the Competent Authorities for Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking of the CSTO Member States, and as part of the Russian Federation's priorities during its 2026 CSTO Chairmanship, the sub-regional counter-narcotics operation “Kanal – Amber Coast” was conducted from June 29 to July 3, 2026. The operation was aimed at disrupting trafficking routes for narcotic drugs, their precursors and analogues, new psychoactive substances, and potent substances into the CSTO area of responsibility, neutralizing international transnational drug trafficking groups, dismantling clandestine drug production facilities, undermining the economic foundations of the drug trade, including the laundering of drug proceeds.
The 12th Southern Information Security Forum “Infoforum Sochi 2026” is taking place in Sochi, Russia, from June 30 to July 3. On July 1, the Forum's plenary session brought together representatives of federal and regional authorities, regulatory bodies, leading companies, and international organizations to discuss current challenges in the protection of critical infrastructure, the development of artificial intelligence, and international cooperation.
On June 30 – July 1, 2026, Saint Petersburg hosted a series of events chaired by Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, with the participation of heads of the competent authorities of the CSTO member states responsible for emergency prevention and response.
Heads of medical services of defense agencies of the CSTO member States have discussed the formation of remote telemedicine consultation system
22.04.2022
On April 21, this year, a working meeting of the heads of medical services of defense agencies of the CSTO member States on the improvement of medical support for CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) was held under the general supervision of Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov, the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff.
Major General Oleg Kalachev, the Head of Department - Deputy Head of the Main Military Medical Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, and representatives of specialized structural subdivisions were in Moscow at the CSTO Crisis Response Center. Via videoconferencing, the heads of medical services of defense agencies and chief military medical specialists from the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyzstan Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Kirov Military Medical Academy participated in the joint event.
The meeting participants paid special attention to discussing the formation of a system of remote telemedicine consultations. The Head of the Center for Coordination of Medical Support of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel of Medical Service Andrey Leonidov, made a report on the current state of the system of remote telemedicine consultations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, including those established in hard-to-reach and remote regions of Russia. In particular, he noted that since the creation of the system of remote telemedicine consultations of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, nearly five thousand consultations had been conducted by medical specialists, and telemedicine technologies
Using the system of remote telemedicine consultations more than 1100 web-conferences, 29 international, including with the CSTO member States on the fight against COVID-19, were held.
The working meeting participants agreed on the importance of this direction and noted that the introduction of the telemedicine consultation system would improve the quality of medical care to the patients of the military-medical organizations of the CSTO member States, the level of training and methodological support to their medical specialists and in general would increase the level of integration and interaction of military specialists within the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
It was decided to continue work in the defense departments of the CSTO member States to create a system of remote telemedicine consultations in the CSTO to provide consultative (training and methodological) assistance to medical specialists of the main (central) military-medical organizations under their responsibility, to consider proposals in the course of the scientific and practical conference "Topical issues of medical support for CSTO Peacekeeping Forces, including in the interests of international peacekeeping activities".
Colonel Ivan Pchelnikov, Head of the Medical Service of the CSTO Joint Staff, spoke about the implementation of measures to form a combined (joint) medical unit within the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces and the development of draft Recommendations on medical support for CSTO Troops (Collective Forces).
The working meeting participants also heard the information of the Head of the Main Military Medical Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Colonel of Medical Service Timur Oshakbayev on the organization of medical care of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent in the Republic of Kazakhstan in January 2022.
