MOSCOW

The Russia-led military bloc Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) started military exercises in Kyrgyzstan on Saturday.

The opening ceremony of the command and staff exercise took place at the Edelweiss training ground in Kyrgyzstan, the CSTO press service said in a statement.

According to the statement, the drill will consist of three parts and take place till Sept.15.

The first part, Interaction-2024, is aimed at coordination between the CSTO forces in general, the second part, Search-2024, engages intelligence units and is organized to improve the interaction among them, while the third part, Echelon-2024, pursues the goal of improving the communications while performing logistics tasks.

Apart from the armed forces, employees of the interior and emergency situations of the member countries as well as national guard forces will take part in the drill.

All but one member country confirmed their participation in the drill - Armenia informed the organization committee about its unwillingness to take part in the exercises.

The CSTO consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.