Hundreds of Russian and Armenian soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and warplanes against simulated a joint offensive against an imaginary invader during annual military exercises held in central Armenia.

Exercises that were held in the large area near Alagyaz shooting from the northern slopes of Mount Aragats at the end of last week, involved the troops that are part of a Russian-Armenian joint military force formed more ago ‘a decade. The special unit includes soldiers of the Armenian army and the Russian military base in Armenia.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said that participating troops practiced a joint operation against commando units of “imaginary opponent who has crossed the state border.” He said they had “destroyed” the enemy using tanks, artillery systems, attack helicopters and combat aircraft MiG-29 Russian.

The Armenian-Russian force led by an Armenian general Mikael Grigorian, had made the previous war games in the same place there is a little over a year. They had targeted an imaginary invader called “Ottomania,” a clear reference to neighboring Turkey.

Armenian leaders have repeatedly stated that Armenia welcomes Russian troops on its territory mainly due to a threat to its security, which is perceived as being able to come to Turkey rather than to Azerbaijan. From the perspective of Yerevan, the Russian military presence is an obstacle to a direct military intervention by Turkey on this front in the event of large-scale war with Azerbaijan for Nagorno-Karabakh.

A Russian-Armenian agreement signed in 2010 extended this presence until 2044 and renewed the mandate of the Russian base. Moscow has since strengthened the basis bringing the number of soldiers in 4000-5000 and providing it with a more modern military equipment.