Training and Testing Grounds
Identification
This record does not resolve to one fixed installation. The placemarks instead match a dispersed catalog of Russian military and security-service training and proving grounds: Alabino is used by the Taman/2nd Guards formation, Rayevsky is an airborne range near Novorossiysk, Opuk is a major Crimea range, and the 45th State Central Navy test range is in the Severodvinsk-Nyonoksa area. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20200718/1574537465.html))
Verified sites
Representative placemarks are corroborated by open sources. In July 2020, more than 6,000 personnel and nearly 600 vehicles of the Taman division moved to Alabino for drills; in June 2021, Rayevsky hosted the Slavic Brotherhood exercise with roughly 1,000 Russian, Belarusian, and Serbian troops; and in October 2021, TASS reported more than 2,000 Southern Military District commandos relocating to Opuk for large-scale drills. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20200718/1574537465.html))
Mission mix
The layer combines several mission types rather than one uniform function: combined-arms field training at Alabino and Opuk, airborne and multinational counter-terror drill activity at Rayevsky, naval weapons testing at the State Central Navy range near Nyonoksa, and internal-security/anti-terror training at Rosgvardiya’s Steklyanka training center in Irkutsk Oblast. In December 2024, Rosgvardiya publicly described anti-terror demonstration training at Steklyanka for the Siberian District command staff. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20200718/1574537465.html))
Governance
The hierarchy label should not be read as proof of direct site ownership by the Security Council of Russia. Kremlin and specialist sources describe the Security Council as a constitutional advisory or deliberative body for presidential security policy, while the verified sites in this record are operated by service or agency structures such as the Armed Forces, Navy, and Rosgvardiya. Public evidence for direct Security Council operation of these ranges was not found; this looks more like a database grouping than a command relationship. ([en.kremlin.ru](https://en.kremlin.ru/structure/security-council?utm_source=openai))
Current relevance
The network remains operationally relevant. Opuk was the venue where Shoigu ended the April 2021 snap-readiness check, and local Russian authorities stated on April 9, 2025 that daily live-fire, tactical training, and combat-vehicle driving would continue there through December 31, 2025. Separately, the State Central Navy range near Severodvinsk marked its 70th anniversary in November 2024, indicating continued institutional activity at that test complex. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1281659))