Andrei Serdyukov at CSTO PA Coordination Meeting: CSTO Expands Collective Forces' Combat Capabilities Step by Step

Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, gave a speech on modernizing the Organization's forces amid global tensions and zones of instability encroaching on member states' borders at the Coordination Meeting of Chairpersons of Committees on Defense and Security of the CSTO Parliaments in Minsk.

He said the Joint Staff's top priority is strengthening the CSTO Collective Forces, which now include more than 38,000 personnel. Drawing on the experience of modern armed conflicts, the Organization is expanding its combat capabilities by adding units equipped with unmanned reconnaissance systems, electronic warfare systems and air defense systems.

The Colonel said that, as part of Russia's CSTO chairmanship, the Organization is paying particular attention to developing aviation, integrating operational-tactical and army aviation and creating mobile air defense groups to cover ground forces. It is also re-equipping national contingents with modern robotic systems and improving specialized units for nuclear, biological and chemical protection (NBC) and medical support.

Additionally, Andrei Serdyukov stressed the importance of adapting military education to new challenges (the CSTO military personnel is now training at 58 universities in 1,115 fields of study) and working with the Parliamentary Assembly under the 2026-2030 Action Plan to harmonize member states' legislation, primarily on regulating international military transport.