Overview
- The active phase of the Center‑2026 and linked CSTO exercises concluded at the Chebarkul training ground on Friday with a main-stage demonstration that Russian officials said defeated a simulated retreating enemy.
- Russian statements put the Chebarkul contingent at just over 6,000 personnel while President Vladimir Putin said the wider Center‑2026 activity involved about 47,000 troops across 11 ranges and the Caspian Sea.
- Organizers reported the concentrated phase used more than 500 drones and over 50 robotic systems, including FPV drone ‘swarms’ for assault strikes and Bogomol‑7 ground robots for cargo delivery and vehicle evacuation.
- Units practiced logistics, repair and casualty evacuation under drone threat, using underground repair stations and 3D‑printed parts to restore weapons and vehicles during the exercises.
- Exercise officials framed the maneuvers as both operational testing and geopolitical signaling that draws on combat lessons from Russia’s operations in Ukraine and aims to tighten CSTO interoperability with partners such as China, Belarus, Mongolia and Pakistan.