Russia has begun exercises of the Pacific Fleet to demonstrate its naval power and please Beijing ahead of Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu's April 16-18 visit to Moscow, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). This is stated in a research note from researchers of the American Institute for the Study of War.
As it is known, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced on April 14 that the Russian military has transferred the Pacific Fleet of the Eastern Military District to a higher level of combat readiness. Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov said that units of the Pacific Fleet will conduct combat exercises.
"The test of the Pacific Fleet's combat readiness is likely intended to send a signal to China that Russia supports China's security goals in the Pacific Ocean and that Russia remains an equal military partner that can act as a Pacific power despite the degradation of Russian military power in Ukraine," says the report of ISW analysts.
The institute also admits that the Kremlin intends to use the test of the combat readiness of the Pacific Fleet to try to deter further support of Ukraine from Japan ahead of the G7 meeting, which will take place on May 19-21.
"Shoigu said that the Russian military announced that the combat readiness checks are aimed at practicing methods to prevent the deployment of enemy forces in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and to repel landings on the southern Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. These are two signals for Japan, which claims part of the archipelago, captured by the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War," the institute emphasized.
In addition, Russia's Eastern Military District recently deployed a battery of Bastion coastal defense missile systems on Paramushir Island in the northern part of the Russian-occupied Japanese Kuril Islands, which, according to analysts, could be a warning to Japan about further support for Ukraine.
"Russia likely intends to use its military presence in the North Pacific to heighten fears of a military escalation in relations with Japan to prevent further support for Ukraine during the G7 meeting in Hiroshima," ISW added.
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