Russian, Kyrgyz presidents attend military drill

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kyrgyz counterpart Sooronbay Jeenbekov attended on Friday main phase of Centre-2019 strategic military exercise, said the Kremlin website.

The two presidents watched the course of the drill, and then held a meeting, where both leaders stressed the importance of the military cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, it added.

"128 thousand personnel, 600 aircraft. This is indeed a very important stage in the training of our armed forces in case of any unforeseen situations, including those related to the fight against terrorism," Putin said.

The Center-2019 exercise involves about 128,000 servicemen from eight countries, including Russia, China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Over 20,000 pieces of weaponry and military equipment and about 600 aircraft are taking part in the exercise. Some stages of the military exercise will be held in the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The drill will end on Sept. 21.