MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: Russia’s S-300V4 air defense systems deployed on the Kuril Islands and S-400 surface-to-air launchers on the Sakhalin Island and MiG-31BM interceptor-fighters in Chukotka have reliably protected the Russian Far Eastern frontiers from the Chukchi Sea to the Sea of Japan, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.
"From December 1, 2020, air defense units operating advanced S-300V4 systems on the Kuril Ridge Islands and S-400 launchers on the Sakhalin Island and MiG-31BM high-altitude interceptor-fighters in Chukotka assumed combat duty," Shoigu said at the ministry’s board meeting.
As a whole, this "ensured the reliable protection of our Far Eastern frontiers, from the Chukchi Sea to the Sea of Japan," the defense chief stressed.
These measures helped further develop the air defense system of Russia’s Eastern Military District, he said.
"The rearmament of the District’s troops continues under the state armament program. Last year, they received over 900 items of advanced and modernized hardware, including Su-35S, MiG-31BM aircraft, S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, BTR-82AM armored personnel carriers, radar stations, engineering equipment and communications means," Shoigu said.
The work to actively introduce the experience of present-day armed conflicts, advanced techniques of organizing and holding classes, exercises and drills made it possible to raise considerably the efficiency of operational and combat training measures last year compared to 2019, the defense minister said.
The tank crews of the Eastern Military District have been the winners of the International Army Games for the fifth straight year, he said.
