Russia has mobilized and deployed over 300,000 soldiers in what is set to be the country’s largest-ever war games since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. These war games will be held very close to the border Russia shares with China, and will be done in coordination with the Chinese Red Army. War Games are simulation-based training exercises that help develop military tactical knowledge and expertise and are presently practised by most nation-states across the world.
The 300,000 strong Russian contingent comprising of over 1000 aircrafts and 36,000 tanks was met by 3,000 Chinese soldiers as part of the war games that will take place over the next week. These war games come in the background of the meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Pacific port of Vladivostok in Eastern Russia.
Russia has had annual training exercises and war games in the last decade. However, this is the first time that Russia’s Vostok drills have integrated foreign military forces. The move to do these exercises with the Chinese, traditionally a sworn adversary of Russia, is seen by many as a seismic shift in foreign adversary as China and Russia take the first steps to an alignment in a world led by Donald Trump’s USA.
At present, the United States is in the middle of a trade war with China, whom President Trump has consistently accused of cheating trade policies. The United States has also had its troubles with Russia over the past few years with regular accusations of cyber-warfare and election-meddling. Russia today, is a target of many US-led sanctions on its industries and many politicians as well.
The move to conduct war games together indicates a growing belief that Russia and China may forge closer bonds in a changing geopolitical world. Russia has also over the past few years, started selling its advanced military hardware such as the Su-35 fighter jet and S-400 missile battery to China, a country it once saw as an adversary.
