S-400 Air Defense Regiment Takes up Duty in Russia's South

MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) – The S-400 Triumf air defense missile system regiment that was deployed in the Southern Military District, has taken up combat duty near the Russian city of Krasnodar, the press service of the district reported Tuesday.

"An air defense missile system regiment of the 4th Air and Air Defense Forces Command of the Southern Military District has taken up combat duty in the Krasnodar region. It is equipped with the advanced S-400 Triumf and Pantsir-S missile systems," the press service said.

In early September, the S-400s have arrived in places of permanent deployment from the Ashuluk testing range in the Astrakhan region after having conducted live-fire training exercises.

The main goal of the regiment is to ensure air defense of the southern borders of the country, to protect industrial and energy facilities, as well as components of the armed forces and transportation lines from air and space attacks.

Three S-400 regiments are deployed near Moscow in the cities of Dmitrov, Zvenigorod and Elektrostal, while another regiment is currently being deployed. Three more regiments are deployed in the Baltic Sea region, in the port city of Nakhodka and in the Southern Military District. Soon the regiment of the topnotch Russian weapon system will also appear on the Kola Peninsula.

At present, the Air and Missile Defense Command of the Aerospace Defense Forces (AMD-ASD) defend and monitor about 1,500 kilometers of air space along the state border of the Russian Federation. They protect 260 defense facilities, which account for over 30 percent of all the defense facilities for the Armed Forces.