The Kremlin sent two warships groups to link up with China in Asian waters this week, a muscle flex aimed at NATO leaders meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to drum up Western support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
The Steregushchiy-class corvettes Rezkiy and Gromkiy left Russia's Far East port of Vladivostok to carry out "assigned tasks in the Asia-Pacific region," the country's state news agency Tass said on Monday, citing the Russian Pacific Fleet.
The 2,200-ton warships will conduct anti-submarine, air defense and anti-sabotage drills at sea during deployment, according to Tass. The vessels trained to defeat an incoming enemy drone during departure.
It was not immediately unclear when the deployment was scheduled to conclude, or whether any port calls would be made. Russia's Defense Ministry did not immediately reply to Newsweek's request comment.
Ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet are headquartered in the closed town of Fokino on the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. They regularly deploy for training and overseas visits to support the country's interests in the region.
On Monday, the Joint Staff Office within Japan's Defense Ministry detected the Rezkiy and the Gromkiy passing through the Tsushima Strait, a strategic waterway separating the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The ships proceed southwest from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea, the report said.
A third Russian naval vessel was spotted by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Saturday. The Vishnya-class spy ship Kareliya sailed north from the Philippine Sea into the East China Sea via the Miyako Strait, the Joint Staff said in a separate report.
It was unclear whether the Kareliya, a signals intelligence-gathering vessel, would take part in any of the drills.
At least five Russian vessels have transited the East China Sea this month.
The Steregushchiy-class corvette Sovershennyy and a supply ship rendezvoused last week with a Chinese naval task force for the countries' fourth annual joint naval patrols. The group sailed through the Osumi Strait south of Japan's main island of Kyushu before entering the wider Pacific, according to the Joint Staff.
The intensive maneuvers, which the Chinese side has yet to formally acknowledge, come as U.S. President Joe Biden hosts NATO leaders gathering in Washington, D.C., for the alliance's annual summit from July 9-11.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea are among the Indo-Pacific leaders in attendance, in part to demonstrate their support for Ukraine, and to link NATO resolve in Europe to adversaries in Asia.
Frederik Van Lokeren, a former Belgian navy officer and now a naval analyst, wrote that the Russian navy, including its Pacific Fleet, was involved in the Kremlin's "diplomatic offensive" last month, calling at four ports in neutral and pro-Moscow countries.
The Russian Pacific Fleet cruiser Varyag and frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov visited the Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Tobruk last month, both of which are outside the fleet's usual operating area in the Asia-Pacific, to strengthen Russian relations with Egypt and the Libyan National Army, respectively, according to Tass.
The Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov are currently docked at the Syrian port of Tartus, according to open-source intelligence analyst MT Anderson, who shared a satellite image on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
Newsweek could not independently verify the analysis.
In the meantime, the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge, accompanied by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche, arrived at Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay on Monday, a deep-water bay facing the contested South China Sea.
Cam Ranh Bay was a major U.S. military facility during the Vietnam War. After Washington pulled out its troops from Vietnam in 1975, it became a strategic Soviet and later Russian naval base for the Pacific Fleet, until a complete withdrawal in 2002.
Amid the rise in tensions in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy has made a number of port calls at Cam Ranh Bay in recent years, a maritime confidence building measure between Washington and Hanoi.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Chan is a Newsweek reporter based in Hong Kong, where he previously had over a decade of experience at ... Read more
