Russian Emergencies Ministry Conducts Headquarters Exercise in Yakutia

The Russian Emergencis Ministry's headquarters exercise began in the Sakha-Yakutia republic in the morning of April 9 (Yakutia is a republic in East Siberia).

According to the republican emergencis ministry, this exercise is being conducted along the Lena river, that is, 15 km away from Yakutsk. Those taking part in the exercise will cope with simulated emergencies arising as a result of spring-time floods.

A group of top officials from the national Emergencies Ministry's Far Eastern regional centre headed by Lieutenant-General Pavel Plat arrived in Yakutia for this purpose. They will acquaint themselves with the work of the crisis-management centre, the local personnel-training centre, as well as Yakutia's joint dispatch-control service.

The joint emergency task force's mobile command centre has been deployed on the banks of the Lena river. Various operations involving helicopters, specialised equipment, as well as explosives for destroying ice obstacles, are currently being implemented.

The three-day exercise will aim to check the readiness of republican rescue teams and damage-control teams to ensure the unimpeded flow of flood-waters along Yakutia's rivers.