Explosions were rife as joint drills between Russian and Belarusian forces, called Union Shield-2015, kicked off in Russia’s Leningrad region. More than 80,000 troops, 400 units of weaponry, and 80 combat aircraft and helicopters were deployed to take part in the exercises. Union Shield-2015 will last until September 16.br br COURTESY: RT's RUPTLY video agency, NO RE-UPLOAD, NO REUSE - FOR LICENSING, PLEASE, CONTACT br RT LIVE br Subscribe to RT! br Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Google+ Listen to us on Soundcloud: br RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.