Russia’s Pacific Fleet has started surprise combat drills as tensions with the West over Ukraine grow. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the exercises were aimed at developing Russia’s armed forces and that the main goal was to build up the armed forces’ ability to solve tasks of repelling potential aggression from the direction of the ocean and sea. During the exercises, Russian forces will practise searching and destroying submarines, repelling large-scale rocket and aviation attacks, and launching rockets, torpedoes, and artillery fire against seaborne and ground targets.
The aim of the drills is to evaluate the state and increase the readiness of military command, troops, and forces to undertake missions in all strategic directions, according to Shoigu. The defence minister said the forces would prevent the enemy from deploying in the operationally important region of the Pacific Ocean – the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk – and repulse an enemy landing in the southern Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island. The southern Kuril islands are at the heart of a long-running feud between Russia and Japan that has prevented them signing a formal World War II peace treaty.
The exercises were announced as China said its defence minister will visit Russia between Sunday and Wednesday. Both Russia and China have expressed concern over NATO’s growing presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The Kremlin called the exercises routine. The head of the Russian navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, is overseeing the drills.
