Russia and China Take Part in Large-Scale Ocean 2024 Strategic Drills
Helicopter takes off from a Russian military ship, Sep. 2024. X/ @AsgardIntel
September 10, 2024 Hour: 11:59 am
Over 400 ships, 120 aircraft, and 90,000 personnel are participating in this military exercise.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin confirmed the start of the ‘Okean-2024’ naval maneuvers that Russia and China are conducting jointly.
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“We are conducting exercises of this magnitude at sea for the first time in the last three decades,” he said, adding that China is participating in the drills with three warships, a supply ship, and fifteen aircraft.
The ‘Okean’ exercises, which were once considered the largest in history, had not been held since the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to power in 1985.
In the active phase of the maneuvers, which the Russians and Chinese launched on Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, the military will carry out missions “as close as possible to combat missions,” using high-precision weapons.
“Russia must be prepared for any development of the situation. Our Armed Forces guarantee reliable defense of Russia’s sovereignty and national interests. Russia must repel any possible military aggression in any direction,” Putin said.
In the ‘Okean-2024’ exercises, which will last until September 16 in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Caspian Seas, more than 400 ships, including submarines and support vessels, more than 120 aircraft, and over 90,000 personnel will participate.
Putin also accused the U.S. of wanting to maintain “at any cost” its global military hegemony. “To that end, using Ukraine, it seeks to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” he said, asserting that, under the pretext of the supposed threat posed by Russia and the need to contain China, “the U.S. and its satellites are increasing their military presence near Russia’s western borders, in the Arctic and in the Asia-Pacific.”
In this region, Washington is altering the balance of power and destroying the security architecture, Putin said, explaining that the United States wants to deploy short- and medium-range missiles, which would provoke an arms race.
Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday began a series of military exercises in Germany that, in the coming months, will take place in some cases near Russia’s borders, including Finland, Slovakia, and Latvia.
teleSUR/JF Sources: EFE – Xinhua
