Over 500 servicemen of the Russian military base in Abkhazia have been trained to become professional drivers of army vehicles on extreme routes in the mountains of Abkhazia, the press service of the Southern Military District said. "One of the main elements of training military drivers in the Russian military base formation is to teach them the skills of overcoming natural obstacles such as mountain rivers, gullies, rock roadblocks and sections of marshy soil by using standard tools of self-extraction," it said.

Learning to drive a T-72B3 in extreme conditions in Russia (Picture source: Lex Kitaev)

During the five months of training the servicemen drilled maneuvering on a high-speed road and covering the route as part of a convoy at maximum and minimal permissible speeds. They learnt to drive on serpentine mountain roads with sharp inclines and sharp turns. Nearly half of the driving lessons took place in dark hours. For the purpose of teaching to drive in harsh conditions water and mud ditches have been dug out and tree roadblocks and other obstacles have been created on automobile and tank training routes at ranges in Gudauta, Nagvalou and Tsabal in Abkhazia as well as in the Maikop and Krasnodar territories.

Wheeled and tracked vehicles such as KamAZ, UAZ and GAZ, modern armored vehicles Tigr and Rys, as well as BTR-82AM armored personnel carriers and T-72B3 main battle tanks were used to train drivers at the Russian military base in Abkhazia. Experienced instructors have held about 1,000 practical classes in driving combat and specialized vehicles since the start of the summer period. The servicemen have covered more than 100,000 kilometers on roads with various surface coating and terrain features.