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The President instructed Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov to plan and hold an exercise of the Caspian Flotilla in summer, involving regional units of the border service, the 4th Air Force and Air Defence Army, and units of the North Caucasian Military District.

The Caspian Flotilla, according to the President, was a substantial factor in ensuring Russia’s economic and political interests. He recalled that following the division of the Caspian fleet in the early 1990s Russia found itself short of 18 warships and 62 support vessels. The fleet was also left without appropriate infrastructure. Recently, President Putin said, considerable work had been done to preserve and develop the fleet, but the past ten years had provided no occasion to test its tactical fitness in practice.

The President set the goal of holding exercises in the northern and central parts of the Caspian Sea in conditions as close to combat as possible, safety being a prime consideration. He also suggested representatives of all Caspian nations be invited as observers.

The primary objective of the exercise was to practice teamwork among all units in countering terrorism threats. It was also necessary to carry out sea rescue drills because there was no well-coordinated infrastructure in the Caspian in this respect, the President noted.