Russia begins ‘unprecedented’ war games
Russia began war games of unprecedented scale yesterday, drilling hundreds of thousands of troops. The exercises are being run in tandem with China – an increasingly strong ally of Moscow. More than 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 ships are involved.
RUSSIA began war games of unprecedented scale yesterday, drilling hundreds of thousands of troops as it seeks to assert itself in the face of what it calls Nato’s “aggressive and unfriendly” attitude.
Alongside forces from its growing ally China, the Vostok exercises in eastern Russia will take in 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 ships, and will be bigger than the USSR’S 1981 Zapad training, according to its defence ministry.
The war games will last a week and take place across nine training grounds, the Sea of Japan and near the Bering Strait. Defence ministry video showed tanks and missile launchers streaming across dusty fields, rocket launchers and artillery being loaded on to ships, and marines landing on the Arctic coast under the cover of attack helicopters.
As their forces began the movements, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, made pancakes, topped them with heapings of caviar and washed them down with vodka shots at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok.
The manoeuvres are a triumphant moment for Mr Putin, who has made military modernisation a top priority following post-soviet stagnation.
A US spy plane reported over the Sea of Japan, however, hinted at the unease of Western countries with Russia’s biggest-ever exercises. Coming a week before a summit between the leaders of North and South Korea, the war games underline Moscow’s bid to become a major military and diplomatic player in the region.
Analysts believe the exercises are in part to train a response to a potential nuclear conflict on the Korean peninsula, as ballistic missile units are among those involved. Besides a display of Russia’s fighting power, Vostok is a promotion of its warming ties with China. During their meeting, Mr Putin praised the trust between the two countries, while Mr Xi said their cooperation was taking on “greater and greater importance” in an oblique reference to tensions with the US.
Although China has previously joined Russia for drills such as naval games in the Baltic Sea last year, this is the first time it will participate in Moscow’s annual strategic exercises, which train forces for large-scale conflict.
Thirty Chinese jets and helicopters and 3,200 troops have been deployed to the Tsugol training grounds east of Lake Baikal. Russia is training methods developed during its Syria intervention, giving Chinese forces, which have not fought in a war since 1979, a glimpse of real combat skills. The manoeuvres are seen as a warning to Washington not to worsen relations with Russia.
“It’s clear that such efforts can be directed at only one country, and that’s United States, because they’re so massive,” said Vasily Kashin, an expert in Russia-china relations at the Higher School of Economics. “At this moment Russia and China both see the United States as the main potential military adversary.”
Mr Kashin said warming ties could lead to a formal military pact. But Alexander Golts, an independent defence analyst, argued that China’s invitation to participate was mainly to allay concerns the enormous war games would otherwise raise. “These manoeuvres aren’t just unprecedented for Russia. No one is doing exercises of this size today,” he said.