Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) talks with Chinese Defense Minister General Li Shangfu (left) and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin, 16 April.
Russia is keen to show that it can still project power in the Pacific, despite its army being stretched and depleted by the war in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said that «strategic and multipurpose nuclear submarines» were deployed to the Pacific Ocean as part of a «surprise test» of the combat readiness of the Pacific Fleet.
On Monday, Russia brushed off Japanese criticism of naval exercises, saying it needed to be on the alert against various regional threats, focusing on Ukraine.
Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said Tokyo had protested Moscow over military exercises around disputed islands off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido.
The official representative of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, in response, said that the exercises are being held “in strict accordance with international law.”
“Our environment is very turbulent in many respects. This is fraught with conflict situations, regional conflicts,» Peskov told reporters. “We are all well aware of the geography of these regional conflicts.”
Japan has a territorial dispute with Moscow over islands in the North Pacific that dates back to the end of World War II.
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