The Defense Minister of Russia, Sergei Shoiguannounced Friday by surprise maneuvers of the Russian fleet in the Pacific, in full approach to China and amid tensions with the West.
by order of the president Vladimir PutinShoigu said that the Russian Pacific Fleet, based in Vladivostokin the Far East of the country, will work “shortly” on combat exercises in “near and far” maritime zones.
During these exercises, this fleet will train to “repel massive air attacks,” “search and destroy submarines“, as well as firing torpedoes, cannons and missiles, Shoigu said during a meeting with senior officials. According to the minister, the maneuvers are intended to “strengthen the capacity of the armed forces to repel attacks.”
Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, who leads the entire Russian fleet, will be in charge of supervising the exercises, the minister added.
“Routine” maneuvers
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The spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskovaffirmed that the maneuvers “are not related” to the presence of the I’LL TAKE in Asia-Pacific, where there are tensions between China and USA.
“It’s routine army training, a development of our armed forcesan inspection of their combat readiness,” he said, adding that “it is not planned” at the moment for Putin to attend the maneuvers.