MOSCOW—Russia said Monday it will launch military drills in the country’s east that will involve forces from China—a show of increasingly close defense ties between Moscow and Beijing amid tensions with the West over the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise will be held Sept. 1–7 in various locations in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops, over 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships.
The ministry released a video of Chinese troops arriving in Russia in preparation for the exercise.
The drills will be conducted at seven firing ranges in far eastern Russia and will engage troops from several ex-Soviet nations, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, and Syria.
The ministry said that units of Russian Airborne troops, long-range bombers, and military cargo planes will take part in the drills along with other forces.
While first announcing the exercise last month, the Russian military emphasized that it’s part of planned combat training that is continuing despite Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. It hasn’t disclosed the number of troops engaged in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” there.
The ministry noted that as part of the maneuvers, the Russian and Chinese navies in the Sea of Japan will “practice joint action to protect sea communications, areas of marine economic activity, and support for ground troops in littoral areas.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Fomin specified that the naval drills would take part in the northern and central part of the Sea of Japan.
“The exercise isn’t directed against any specific countries or military alliances and is purely defensive,” Fomin said at a meeting with foreign military attaches.
