Tel Aviv: According to Israeli analysts, recent Russian military exercises with the participation of forces from another 13 countries, raise serious questions about Russian plans in the international arena. “Moscow by a show of military force in the participation of other counties wants to signal that in spite of the problems in Ukraine it is capable of taking military actions in other places,” said one of the analysts.
On August 31, 2022, Alghad TV (UAE/Egypt) aired a report about Russia’s Vostok 2022 military exercise, in which forces from 13 countries, including China, participated. The report was made public in English by MEMERI the organization that is monitoring Middle East media. The report said that while Russia claims the exercises are defensive in nature, their timing suggests otherwise, since they are taking place amid tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine and between the US and China over Taiwan.
The reporter elaborated that this also coincides with the recent emphasis placed by Russia and China on establishing a “multipolar” world order, and he said that the exercises demonstrate the close military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow. The report also noted that one of the theatre’s in which the exercises took place is in the Kuril Islands, which are the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.
More than 50,000 soldiers and about 5,000 pieces of military equipment — including 140 planes and 60 naval vessels — were sent by Russia to the Vostok 2022 military exercises, in which 13 countries, including China, participated. Moscow described the Vostok 2022 military exercises as defensive, and said that the purpose was to improve the capabilities of the armed forces in order to guarantee the security of Russia and its allies in the East, and that they are not aimed against any specific country or military alliance.
“Although the Russian Ministry of Defence stressed that the Vostok 2022 military exercises are defensive in nature and are not aimed against any party, under the current circumstances, exercises of this sort contain some implied messages. Experts agree that [these messages] are aimed at Washington and at NATO.”
According to a report in Al Jazeera as part of the manoeuvres, the Russian and Chinese navies in the Sea of Japan are involved in “joint action to protect sea communications, areas of marine economic activity and support for ground troops in littoral areas,” according to the Russian defence ministry. The report in Al Jazeera says that the drills showcase increasing defence ties between Moscow and Beijing, which have grown stronger since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on February 24.
China’s participation in the drills “aims to deepen pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the militaries of the participating countries, enhance the level of strategic cooperation among all participating parties, and enhance the ability to jointly respond to various security threats”, Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei said last week.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
