Russia, China Hold Joint Fighter Jet Exercises as Vladimir Putin Personally Attends To Witness Large-Scale Drills

Russia, China Hold Joint Fighter Jet Exercises as Vladimir Putin Personally Attends To Witness Large-Scale Drills
Russia holds joint exercises of jet fighters with China despite condemnation of other countries with Moscow’s large-scale drills. NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images

According to the clip, Chinese and Russian fighter jets and attack helicopters are participating in a joint military drill.

A couple of Russian helicopters are seen taking off from an unspecified location in the video's opening scene before dropping bombs on fake targets. They can then be seen returning to the base.

Putin Witnesses Russia's Joint Military Drills With Other Countries

In the second segment of the video, some Russian fighter jets are shown taxiing on a runway before taking off and firing on a dummy adversary before landing back at their base.

The pictures and a statement that read: "The helicopter crews of the army aviation of the Eastern Military District worked out the responsibilities of protecting the landing of tactical assault forces as part of the "Vostok-2022" maneuvers were received from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) on September 5.

The operational-tactical aviation of the Eastern Military District's Su-25SM3 crews practiced air support for troop missions at the Sergeevsky training facility as part of the maneuvers "Vostok-2022," according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as per Newsweek via MSN.

Tuesday saw President Vladimir Putin participate in extensive military drills with China and several other nations that are friendly to Russia, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. At the Sergeevski military range, Putin met with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Military Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov. Peskov was quoted as stating that Putin would later see the culmination of the military exercises.

The Vostok-2022 military exercises, which began on September 1, are scheduled to last through September 7 on several training fields in Russia's the Far East and the waters off its eastern coast. In 2018, similar drills were last conducted. On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin was seen inspecting the practice while grinning and laughing with his defense minister.

The military news channel Zvezda aired a clip of Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu laughing together while listening to a phone conversation between the minister's deputy and the chief of the general staff. Both men were dressed in combat jackets. Despite the demands of the Ukraine war, where his forces have sustained significant losses in men and equipment while being fought to a near standstill after taking about a fifth of the nation, Putin looked to be sending a message by continuing the four-yearly Vostok drills.

Only 50,000 soldiers, or a small portion of the 300,000 they said participated in 2018, are reportedly participating in the war exercises that started on September 1. Both figures, according to Western military analysts, are inflated. The Russian Pacific Fleet was practicing launching Kalibr cruise missiles, which the defense ministry claimed had successfully attacked a target more than 300 kilometers distant, in a video that was posted on Tuesday.

On Monday, combat ships from China and Russia practiced employing air defense artillery systems to fend off an enemy air attack. The ministry reported that last week, warships from the two nations performed anti-ship, anti-air, and anti-submarine defense missions in the Sea of Japan/East Sea.

In February, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a "no limits" alliance and pledged to work together more closely against the West. An army detachment from India has traveled to the exercises, where it is reportedly participating in "combined field training exercises, combat debates, and firepower exercises."

India, which receives the majority of its military hardware from Russia, carried out the drill days after the United States expressed worry about any country engaging in such maneuvers with Russia at the moment, Stra its Times.

Japan Criticizes Russia Against Military Exercises

A Japanese official said on Monday that the country has voiced its concerns to Russia regarding shooting drills by Chinese and Russian vessels off the northern coast of Japan as well as the multinational military exercises taking place on Russian-controlled islands that Japan claims.

Russian military operations on two of the four disputed islands, which Japan refers to as the Northern Territories, in the Kuril group off Hokkaido, its northernmost main island, have drawn criticism from Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. It was unclear if China had participated in the drills on the contested islands.

190 kilometers (118 miles) west of Cape Kamui on Hokkaido, he claimed, the Japanese Defense Ministry observed six Chinese and Russian warships firing machine guns into the Sea of Japan on Saturday. China's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on Sunday that China participated in air, ground, and naval exercises as part of exercises. According to the report, a Chinese naval tactical team trained alongside Russia in the Sea of Japan, and one of the exercises involved destroying drifting mines.

Japan is worried about rising tensions in Asia as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and worries that China's aggressive military actions in East Asia, particularly in the area surrounding Taiwan, which China claims, are being emboldened by the conflict. To dramatically increase its military capabilities and strengthen its deterrent, Japan is now rewriting its national security policy and defense policies, according to News.

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Vladimir putin, Russia, China
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