Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday attended sweeping war games in his country’s far east involving troops from China and other nations, in a show of military muscle amid the tensions with the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The weeklong exercise that began last Thursday is intended to showcase growing defense ties between Russia and China, and also demonstrate that Moscow has enough troops and equipment for the massive drills, even while its forces are fighting in Ukraine.
Russia’s defense ministry said the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise that would run until Wednesday at seven firing ranges in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan involved more than 50,000 troops and over 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships. It involves troops from several ex-Soviet nations, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria.
Beijing sent more than 2,000 troops, over 300 military vehicles, 21 combat aircraft and three warships to take part in the drills, according to Chinese news reports. As part of the maneuvers, the Russian and Chinese navies in the Sea of Japan practiced joint action to protect sea communications and support for ground forces in coastal areas.
Neil Melvin, head of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London, observed that the drills were intended “to indicate to the West, to its partners in Asia that this is an emerging security and military relationship that needs to be taken account of.”
The drills continue a series of joint war games by Russia and China in recent years, including naval drills and patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Last year, Russian troops for the first time deployed to Chinese territory for joint maneuvers.
The exercise marked the first time China has sent forces from three branches of its People’s Liberation Army to take part in a single Russian drill, a sign of increasing close ties between Moscow and Beijing, which have grown stronger since Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on February 24.
China has pointedly refused to criticize Russia’s actions, blaming the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for provoking Moscow, and has blasted the punishing Western sanctions against Russia.
The Kremlin, in turn, has strongly backed Beijing amid the latest tensions with Washington that followed US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on August 2 and 3.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have developed strong personal ties to bolster a “strategic partnership” between the former Communist rivals as they both are locked in rivalry with the US. Even though Moscow and Beijing ruled out a military alliance in the past, Putin has said such a prospect can’t be excluded.
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Melvin said that while it wants to showcase its growing defense ties with Russia, China is not in a situation where it can support Russia economically without damaging its own core interests, because of its focus on the North American and European markets.
Mindful of sweeping Western sanctions against Russia, “Chinese business has had to look very carefully at its economic relationship with Russia, and in many cases, the Chinese businesses have concluded that it’d be too risky to carry on doing business,” he said.
The analyst also said Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and the Western sanctions has made Russia increasingly reliant on China.
“China is clearly going to be setting the agenda more and more,” he added. “It may be actually demanding more of Russia.”
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