05.08.2014.

Serbia opened the Tank Biathlon in Russia

The first crew of the Serbian Armed Forces’ team opened the Tank Biathlon at the training ground Alabino near Moscow. Yesterday, our team started at the individual race, and, at the end of the day, took fourth place in the overall scoring, behind the host – Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. For now, Serbia is followed by Belarus, Kirgizia, India, Mongolia, China, Angola, Kuwait and Venezuela.

Time scoring differences between the teams in the first half of the chart are minimal, so a great battle is expected in the next part of the competition, since tomorrow and the day after – which is how long the first stage lasts – the second and third crews of all teams will be driving.

The “Tank Biathlon 2014” was opened by Russian Defence Minister Army General Sergey Shoygu, with the attendance of many guests from the 12 competing countries. Minister Shoygu greeted the competing countries from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, wishing them a competition of sportsmanship and fair fight.

- We are content with the current rank. Our team gave their best. We believe that the arbiters will follow the pre-stated rules in the further course of the competition – Colonel Kuzmanovic, our team’s leader, said.

The competition has four stages. During the first and the second stage, tank crews compete in skills of driving tanks, overcoming tank barriers and shooting, while during the third stage, they compete at the sports training ground. The top four teams after the third stage enter a relay-race, which will decide which country is the winner of the Tank Biathlon 2014.

The opening ceremony and the first day of the competition were also attended by the delegation of the Armed Forces of Serbia, headed by Army Commander Lieutenant General Aleksandar Zivkovic, and Serbian Ambassador to the Russian Federation Slavenko Terzic.

After the beginning of the competition, General Zivkovic visited the Command of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation, where he met with the Forces’ Commander Colonel General Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov.

Generals Zivkovic and Shamanov discussed possibilities for improving the cooperation between our Army and the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation, and the forthcoming joint exercise in October in our country.