Today, the commander of the Western Operational Command was handed an order from the State Secretary of the Security Council to bring the unit, part of the immediate response forces, to readiness to carry out its designated tasks.

«On the instructions of the head of state, the combat readiness of structural elements of the state’s military organization is being checked under the leadership of the State Secretariat of the Security Council. Today we are talking about the Armed Forces, and an order has been handed to the commander of the Western Operational Command to bring the mechanized battalion of the 6th Separate Guards Mechanized Brigade to readiness to carry out the assigned tasks. After completing the full set of measures, the battalion will make a march to the designated area, where control exercises in tactical and fire training will be held. Combat vehicle crews will carry out control firing exercises from their combat vehicles. At the final stage, control exercises in physical training will be held with the battalion’s personnel. The physical training of servicemen is one of the components of success in battle today,» Andrei Gorbatenko, Deputy State Secretary of the Security Council, explained.

According to Andrei Gorbatenko, the measure is unscheduled for the battalion: it had no prior knowledge of it. This makes it possible to genuinely assess the battalion’s readiness and ability to carry out the assigned tasks.

«The Armed Forces are finishing another training year. For the battalion, this will be a natural examination, and on its results we will be able to say what knowledge and practical skills the battalion is finishing the year with,» the deputy state secretary of the Security Council said.

Andrei Gorbatenko particularly stressed that such inspections have another important purpose: in the course of them, servicemen acquire additional skills and consolidate the knowledge they have already gained. «A commission has been set up for this purpose, and staff of the State Secretariat of the Security Council are in the battalion from the start of the inspection until its completion. The results will be summarized, analyzed and reported to the head of state and the leadership of the Armed Forces, so that they can be used in the training of mechanized units,» Andrei Gorbatenko explained.

«The task we are to carry out came unexpectedly. Our spirits are high, and we are always ready to carry out any task assigned to us. All servicemen are ready, in high spirits. We will do our best to carry out everything necessary with the highest result,» a serviceman of the 202nd Mechanized Battalion said.