Vostok-2014 strategic military exercises checked readiness of Russia's special forces for immediate reactions to possible crises, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday.

"Several goals were reached, including testing in practice the readiness of the army for immediate reactions in areas where critical situations might arise, including the Far North and Arctic," Shoigu said at a meeting on the results of Vostok-2014 exercises.

Goals of the exercises included "to study the possibilities of troops redeployment to remote areas of the country with the help of new armament, military and special equipment, as well as to check the efficiency of army control system involving all services and arms," Shoigu said.

Vostok-2014 also revealed several problems to be studied and solved in the future, he said. "We need to accumulate logistic stocks and to develop the military infrastructure in the remote Eastern region."

Meanwhile, "air defense needs to be reinforced by supplies of advanced air defense missile systems and fighters," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Shoigu as saying.

Changes should also be made in mobilization training of the army and the interaction among departments involved in such training, according to the minister.

Shoigu concluded that the exercises "proved the high level of qualification of the Eastern Military District troops and their capability to ensure security of the country's Far East."

The Vostok-2014 strategic military exercise in the Eastern Military District took place from Sept. 19 to 25. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it "the largest event of this type that we have ever conducted."

More than 155,000 servicemen, some 8,000 units of military hardware, including over 4,000 armored vehicles, 632 aircraft, and 84 ships, have taken part in the exercises. Endite

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