Russian and Chinese navies conduct joint exercises on the Baltic sea

The Russian defence ministry announced that the Baltic Fleet participated in joint exercises with units from China. The manoeuvres took place in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.

"A joint Russian-Chinese Passex type exercise took place at the naval training ground of the Leningrad Naval Base of the Baltic Fleet in the waters of the Gulf of Finland," the ministry reported.

The ministry emphasized that using radio equipment, the crews detected simulated enemy minefields and destroyed them with onboard artillery. They practised joint search and rescue operations, assisted a simulated surface ship damaged in combat, and rescued the crew in the water.

The crews of both ships also practised rescue missions in the water.

On Sunday, Vladimir Putin attended the Navy Day celebrations in St. Petersburg. In connection with this event, a Chinese fleet ship arrived in Russia.

Putin personally welcomed units from “friendly states." He arrived by cutter and first thanked the Chinese sailors from the warship Jiaozuo for their presence, then went to the Algerian training ship Soummam, and on the return trip, he stopped to greet the crew of the Indian warship Tabar.

This is not the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that various events in Russia have been cancelled for security reasons. Nevertheless, this event is the most significant among them, indicating increasing difficulties for the Kremlin in ensuring the security of its armed forces, commented the British Ministry of Defence.