Russia joins China in new show of power in Asia. Just days after Beijing simulated a hypothetical bombing of Taiwan, Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced surprise drills that will bring its Pacific Fleet “to the highest level of combat readiness.” The navy has been put on alert for the days when Moscow awaits the visit of Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, and its maneuvers will include another of the main sources of tension in the region: the south of the disputed Kuril Islands and Sakhalin since the end of World War II with Japan.
The main protagonist of these exercises is the Russian Navy, but its aviation and army will also take part. “It is necessary to develop plans to prevent the deployment of enemy forces in an operationally important area of the Pacific Ocean, the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, and their landing in the south of the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands,” he, in turn, emphasized the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. His country and Japan never officially signed a peace in 1945 due to the dispute they have had over the latter territories since then, and their relations have soured due to Tokyo’s unequivocal support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.
The chief of the Russian General Staff, and since January also the chief of all forces involved in the invasion of Ukraine, Valeri Guerasimov, has stated that these exercises “are the typical training at a time when there is an imminent threat of attack. Guerásimov stressed that his country could not relax for a second: “It is necessary that the armed forces are tested in conditions that are as similar as possible to the essence and nature of modern warfare.”
While this isn’t the first time the Russian Navy has conducted surprise maneuvers — the last time was the Primorye flotilla’s turn in November 2022 — this time it’s a large-scale exercise. “In accordance with the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (President Vladimir Putin), the Russian Defense Ministry continues the practice of conducting inspections without prior notice,” stressed the head of the army Sergei Shoigu at the beginning of his intervention.
The operation also coincides with the visit of China’s new defense minister to Moscow between the 16th and 19th. According to the Russian side, Shoigu and Li will talk about “bilateral cooperation in the field of defense and global and regional security.”
This meeting follows the high-level summit of Presidents of Russia Vladimir Putin and China Xi Jinping on March 20-21 in Moscow. One of the axes of this meeting was the opposition of both nuclear powers to strengthening alliances of the United States and the United Kingdom with other countries in the region, particularly Australia and Japan, as well as “the continued strengthening of NATO’s military and security ties with the countries of Asia -Pacific region”.
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Moscow has promised that its deputy defense minister, Alexander Fomin, will explain these maneuvers to military attachés from other countries in the region. One of the main tasks of this inspection is to refine the deployment of troops in a short time “both in near and distant sea areas”. In addition, the Pacific Navy will also practice defending against massive missile attacks, bombing ground targets, and fighting enemy submarines and other fleets. Chief of General Staff Guerásimov pointed out that the preparation of their missile-carrying submarines is also being reviewed separately.
The maneuvers consist of three phases. First, both the Pacific Fleet and Russia’s eastern air defenses have been placed on alert, and at this stage submarine access to their ports is being monitored. The Russian armed forces will then be transferred from their permanent bases to the military training areas. Finally, in the third phase, the fleet and the remaining units will practice “all combat tasks”.
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