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Russia held military drills on Wednesday (July 9) in its southern Krasnodar region not far from the border with Ukraine.
Infantry, anti-aircraft brigades, marines, interior and special troops participated in the exercises held at a firing field close to the town of Yeisk.
Troops were competing in firing from various types of weapons such as pistols, rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, among others.
In the past months Russia held several military drills close to the Ukrainian border.
The latest drills came days after Ukrainian government forces pushed pro-Russian rebels out of a stronghold in Slaviansk. From there the heavily armed separatists have dug in in Donetsk, a city of 900,000 people, and remain active in and around Luhansk on the Russian border.
In the three-month conflict against separatists in the Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine more than 200 government troops have been killed as well as