Up to 500 Russian and about the same number of Mongolian servicemen will be involved in the Selenga 2017 joint Russian-Mongolian military drills in a desert region of the central Asian nation, the press service of the Russian Eastern Military District said on Thursday.

‘Up to 500 servicemen of the detached motorised rifle unit deployed in the town of Kyakhta, the Republic of Buryatia, will take part in the international exercises. Selenga’ 2017 will be held in a training range in Mongolia from August 26^th to September 9^th to train skills of eliminating illegal armed groups in the Gobi desert,’ the press service said.

According to the press service, the Russian side plans to involve more than 100 units of hardware and weapons, including armoured infantry carriers, T-72B3 tanks, a mortar battery, the BM-21 Grad multiple missile launcher systems and other items.