The Russian military has held six surprise inspections of combat readiness and most of the 750 planned army-level exercises since the beginning of this year.

The most recent snap check, in late October, involved launches of ballistic missiles and drills by air defense and missile defense units to assess the combat readiness of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

A surprise exercise in July was the largest in the post-Soviet period and involved some 160,000 servicemen, about 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft and 70 warships from the far-eastern and central military districts.

Shoigu, who took his post in November 2012, said the exercises have focused on honing professional skills of military personnel and increasing the level of realism during the drills.

“We have increased fivefold the quantity of ammunition allocated for training [this year],” the minister said.

Shoigu said the Defense Ministry will continue its course on reducing the number of military conscripts and increasing the share of professional soldiers in the armed forces.

The military needs to recruit about 300,000 men during each draft to keep the number of personnel at the required level of 1 million. All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are obliged by law to perform one year of military service.

However, demographic decline and draft dodging has led the Defense Ministry to halve the number of conscripts in five consecutive draft periods since the autumn draft of 2011.

Shoigu said 205,000 professional soldiers currently serve in the armed forces and their number will gradually increase in the next seven years.