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Russian Armed Forces Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Vladimir Putin, ordered a surprise check in the Central Military District on Monday, Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu said.

"On his orders, troops of the district, some aviation forces of other military districts, the Airborne Forces and Military Transport Aviation are being put on 'full' combat alert at 9:30 a.m.," Shoigu told Defense Ministry commanders at the National Defense Management Center, Interfax news agency reported.

"During the first day we need to check compliance with time standards and the ability of troops to accomplish assignments at the required level of combat readiness," the defense minister said.

"Multiservice formations and military units will then be deployed to ranges and practice areas and will prepare for the drills," he said.
The minister put emphasis on "the readiness of aviation formations and units to fulfill their missions." "We need to assess the ability of Airborne Forces units to move long distances and their preparedness to land on unfamiliar ranges," Shoigu said.

The Central Military District is actively preparing for the Center 2015 strategic drills. A series of command-and-staff exercises have been held to test the deployment of comprehensive support systems in specialized exercises.