Vietnam was praised by Russian military experts for excellent performance at the Army Games 2019. Photo: VNA

The visit, made at the invitation of General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia and First Deputy Defence Minister, aims to maintain delegation exchanges between the two ministries and to strengthen bilateral friendship.

Over the years, the defence partnership between Vietnam and Russia has been deepened as an important pillar in bilateral relations.

The Vietnamese tank competes in the semi-final round of Group 2 of the“Tank biathlon” event. Photo: VNA

Vietnam sent 127 officers and soldiers to compete in this year’s Army Games in the categories of tank biathlon, safe route, safe environment, sniper frontier, military medical relay race, field kitchen, and emergency area.

Vietnamese officers and soldiers were praised by Russian military experts for their performance.

Colonel Vladislav Veryasov from the Russian Armed Forces’ Engineer Arm, also a main referee, praised the Vietnamese team's skills, saying Vietnamese military personnel showed unyielding fighting spirit.

Speaking with the broadcaster STV of Belarus, Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Colonel Vladimir Bely, also a main referee, said though participating in the Army Games for the first time, the Vietnamese sniper team achieved high results.

Vietnam’s military medical team was also praised by Sputnik newspaper of Russia. Accordingly, in the military medical relay race, the team applied reflexology techniques to help athletes recover their health after crossing obstacles at the Forish ground in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

During the Army Games 2019, more than 5,000 military athletes from 39 countries will compete in over 30 categories held in host Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Iran, India, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.

Vietnam’s attendance at the Army Games 2019 is considered a defence diplomatic activities of Vietnam to mark the Vietnam-Russia and Russia-Vietnam Year (2019-2020)./.

VNF/VNA