2024-10-21 07:20:00
A group of ships of the Russian navy has arrived in Myanmar to participate in naval exercises with the country’s navy, Myanmar state media reported on Monday.
Four corvettes and a logistics vessel from the Russian Pacific Fleet arrived at Tilawa port in Yangon on Sunday to “join the second Myanmar-Russia joint maritime security exercise,” Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
Russian ships will conduct exercises in the “harbor phase”, the publication writes, without providing details.
On Sunday, the country’s ruling junta announced that it will conduct live-fire maritime security exercises in the northern waters of the Andaman Sea from October 20 to 24. Fishing boats and aircraft have been asked not to travel in the area. But at the initial stage, after the announcement, the authorities did not say about the participation of Russian ships or personnel in these exercises.
The two navies conducted their first joint exercises in the Andaman Sea last November.
Along with China, Moscow is an ally of the Myanmar junta, providing it with weapons and diplomatic support as the junta’s armed forces fight to defeat the armed opposition, writes AFP.
Analysts say that under pressure from ground forces, the junta is relying more on its air force, which includes the Russian Su-30, MiG-29 and Yak.
The head of the junta Min Aung Calling he traveled to Russia several times after leading the coup in 2021, including meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2022.
Russia said it supported the plan to hold new general elections, and the junta, in turn, supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it was “justified.”
The United States has said any election under the junta will be a “sham”, and analysts say the election will target opponents of the military and lead to more bloodshed. In August, the junta’s other major ally, China, said it supported the army’s election plans.
Sources close to the military told AFP earlier this month that Min Aung Glaing would travel to China in November, his first known trip there since the military coup.
As a result of a coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, the military seized power in the country. They took him into custody Aung San Suu Kyi — the leader of the National League for Democracy, which won the parliamentary elections in November. The military accused her party of large-scale forgeries. They dissolved the previous composition of the electoral commission. Large-scale actions against the army began in the country. Hundreds of people have died in protests since the beginning of the coup. The exact number is not known.
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