Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that the country’s Pacific Fleet had conducted surprise combat exercises as tensions with the West over Ukraine simmered.
The Kremlin described the exercises as “routine” and said they were aimed at developing Russia’s armed forces.
In a meeting with senior Russian officers, Shoigu said the Pacific Fleet, based in the port of Vladivostok, was on high alert during the surprise exercises that began on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.
“The main goal of these exercises is to build the capacity of the armed forces to solve the tasks of repelling possible aggression from the direction of the ocean and sea,” Shoigu said.
Shoigu added that the goal was “to assess the state and increase the readiness of the military command, troops and troops to carry out missions in all strategic directions.”
The defense minister said that the forces will prevent the enemy from deploying in the “operationally important area of \u200b\u200bthe Pacific Ocean – the southern part of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk” and will repel enemy landings in the southern Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island.
The Southern Kuril Islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, are at the center of a long-running dispute between Russia and Japan that prevented the signing of a formal peace treaty related to World War II.
Shoigu said that the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevminov, is supervising the exercises.
During the exercises, Russian forces will train to search for and destroy submarines, “repel large-scale missile and air attacks,” and launch missiles, torpedoes, and artillery fire at sea and land targets.
The exercises were announced as China said its defense minister would visit Russia between Sunday and Wednesday.
Both Russia and China have expressed “concern” about NATO’s growing presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
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