The Russian Navy has started the naval exercise Ocean-2024, which will take place on five seas and test operational readiness and the use of high-precision weapons, among other objectives, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sept. 10.
The Russian Defense Ministry described Ocean-2024 as "one of the main events of the operational and combat training of the Russian Armed Forces in 2024."
The exercises will take place on the Pacific Ocean and Arctic Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas.
Ocean-2024 will involve more than 400 Russian Navy warships, submarines, auxiliary fleet support vessels, more than 120 aircraft and helicopters, around 7,000 weapons units, military and special equipment, and over 90,000 personnel, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.
Ocean was also used as a code name for naval exercises conducted by the Soviet Navy in the 1970s and 1980s. They were the "largest operational and combat training events of the Soviet Navy in the post-war period and the largest in world history for their time," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry said on Sept. 8 that the Chinese Navy will join Ocean-2024 and that the Russian military would also send its naval and air forces to participate in China's drills later in September.
The North-Joint 2024 will take place in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, with the aim of "enhancing strategic cooperation between the Chinese and Russian militaries and their ability to jointly respond to security threats," the Chinese Defense Ministry said.
Moscow has deepened military ties with Beijing amid growing tensions with the West, which have escalated after the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
