Putin observes joint military drills with China, India, other nations in Russia’s Far East
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended large-scale military exercises in his country’s far east involving thousands of troops from China and the militaries of several other nations.
Putin observed the joint war games, dubbed the Vostok-2022 (East 2022), which began at the beginning of September and are being held on training grounds in the waters off Russia’s eastern coast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told local news agencies on Tuesday.
The drills involve troops from several ex-Soviet nations as well as China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, and Syria.
More than 50,000 soldiers and more than 5,000 units of military equipment, including 140 aircraft and 60 ships, are involved in the exercises, which run until Wednesday. China sent more than 2,000 troops along with more than 300 military vehicles, 21 combat aircraft, and three warships to take part in the drills, according to Chinese news reports.
As part of the drills, the Russian and Chinese navies in the Sea of Japan practiced joint action to protect sea communications and provide support for ground forces in coastal areas.
The Russian Defense Ministry released video of the naval part of the exercises on Tuesday, showing Russia’s Pacific Fleet practicing launching Kalibr cruise missiles, which it said had successfully struck a target more than 300 km away.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei said last week that his country’s participation in Vostok-2022 aimed to deepen “cooperation between the militaries of the participating countries, enhance the level of strategic cooperation among all participating parties, and enhance the ability to jointly respond to various security threats.”
Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, declared a “no-limits” partnership between their countries in February, promising to collaborate more closely against the West.
India has also sent an army contingent to the drills. Russia is the biggest supplier of military hardware to India.
Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February. Ever since, the US and its NATO allies have unleashed sanctions on Moscow and supplied heavy weaponry to Kiev.
China has said the United States is the “main instigator” of the conflict by supporting NATO expansion and imposing sanctions on Moscow.
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