Moscow, Aug 23: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov hitched a ride on a Tu-160 strategic bomber to inspect the large-scale military exercises currently underway in Russia's Far East. Stepping out of the menacing bomber and wearing a blue flight jumpsuit, Ivanov spoke highly of the chance to arrive ``on one of these beauties.''
He said in remarks shown on Russian state-controlled television that the Tu-160 would begin fulfilling tasks for the first time in the Far East. Ivanov was in the Far East to observe the training exercises, involving some 70,000 troops and civilian specialists, around 60 war ships and more than 70 planes and helicopters.
``We have not held maneuvers on such a scale' since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Ivanov was quoted as saying by news agencies from the regional capital, Vladivostok. ``The scale is not the only important aspect,'' he said. ``The Far East is a strategic area, having an impact on the country's economy and security.''
Ivanov watched a drill aimed at preventing a terrorist group from blowing up a railway bridge, the news agencies said. Bureau Report