ISW: Moscow launches Pacific Fleet exercises in hopes to make itself more attractive to China

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on April 14 that the Russian military had raised the Pacific Fleet of the Eastern Military District to the highest level of combat readiness for combat checks.

General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, said elements of the Pacific Fleet will conduct combat exercises.

The Institute for the Study of War said in their latest update that the Russian Pacific Fleet’s combat readiness checks are likely meant "to signal to China that Russia supports Chinese security objectives in the Pacific" and that Russia remains an equal military partner that can operate as a Pacific power despite the degradation of Russian military power in Ukraine.

According to the ISW, those exercises are meant as "signals to Japan."

"Russia likely intends to use military posturing in the North Pacific to raise fears about military escalation with Japan in an increased effort to prevent Japan from further supporting Ukraine when it hosts the G7 meeting in Hiroshima," the ISW found, adding that the Russian military is in no position to threaten Japan at this time.

Explainer: What we learned from Pentagon leak and why it matters

A major U.S. intelligence leak exposed very detailed reports about Ukraine and its war effort. The documents detail the strength of Ukraine’s counteroffensive buildup, the U.S.’s doubt that it will go very far, Ukraine’s approaching vulnerability to air attacks, the sad state of the Russian

Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov