Russia deploys its Pacific fleet in surprise exercises "at the highest level of battle readiness"

Russia joins China in a new show of force in Asia.

Just days after Beijing simulated a hypothetical bombardment of Taiwan, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced surprise exercises that will bring its Pacific fleet "to the highest level of battle readiness."

The Navy has been placed on alert at the same time that Moscow awaits the visit of the Chinese Defense Minister, Li Shangfu, and its maneuvers will include another of the main sources of tension in the region: the south of the Kuril and Sakhalin islands, disputed since the end of World War II with Japan.

The main protagonist of these exercises is the Russian Navy, but its aviation and the Army will also participate.

"It is necessary to draw up 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 stressed, for his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

His country and Japan never formally signed peace in 1945 due to the dispute they have had since then over the latter territories, and their relations have worsened 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 head of all the forces involved in the invasion of Ukraine, Valeri Guerasimov, has declared that, for these exercises, "the typical training of a time when there is a imminent threat of assault.

Gerasimov has stressed that his country cannot relax for a second: "It is necessary to have the forces put to the test in the most similar conditions possible to the essence and nature of modern warfare."

Although it is not the first time that the Russian Navy has carried out surprise maneuvers – the last time it was the turn of the Primorye flotilla in November 2022 – this time it is a large-scale exercise.

"In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (President Vladimir Putin), the Russian Ministry of Defense continues the practice of carrying out inspections without prior notice," he stressed at the beginning of his intervention the head of the army, Sergei Shoigu.

The operation also coincides with the visit of the new Chinese 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 held by the presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and China, Xi Jinping, in Moscow on March 20 and 21.

One of the axes of that meeting was the opposition of both nuclear powers to the strengthening of the alliances of the United States and the United Kingdom with other countries in the region, especially Australia and Japan, as well as "the continuous strengthening of military and security ties of NATO with the countries of Asia-Pacific”.

Moscow has promised that its Deputy Defense Minister, Alexander Fomin, will explain these maneuvers to the military attachés of the other countries in the region.

One of the main missions of this inspection is to refine the deployment of troops in a short period of time "both in nearby and distant maritime areas."

In addition, the Pacific Navy will also rehearse defense against massive missile attacks, bombardment of ground targets, and combat against enemy submarines and other fleets.

The chief of the General Staff, Guerásimov, pointed out that the preparation of their missile-carrying submarines will also be verified separately.

The maneuvers will consist of three stages.

First, both the Pacific fleet and Russia's eastern air defenses have been put on alert, and in this phase submarine access to their ports will be monitored.

Subsequently, the Russian forces will be transferred from their permanent bases to the training areas.

Finally, the fleet and the rest of the units will practice “all combat tasks” in the third phase.

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