Putin to attend Vostok 2022 military drills with China, ally nations in Primorsky Krai

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will attend the large-scale multinational war exercise Vostok-2022 that Moscow is hosting in Far Eastern Federal District Primorsky Krai in coordination with its allies India, China, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria and other former Soviet nations. The military drills started on Sept. 1 and will be held through Sept. 7, Russia's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said. Despite protests from Japan, and at a crucial time when the president of the Russian Federation ordered a "special military intervention" against its neighbour Ukraine, Russia managed to gather tens of thousands of troops from the air force, paratroopers and other units on 13 military training grounds in a defiant posture against the West. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia's president Vladimir Putin will attend the active phase of the military drills on Sept. 6. He has also scheduled an Asia trip for mid-September and plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders for a regional summit. 

"He [Putin] will work in Vladivostok itself," Peskov told state-affiliated broadcasting network RT, referring to the Sea of Japan and north of North Korea. "The strategic command and staff exercises of the armed forces Vostok-2022 begin there."

Credit: AP

To respond to various 'security threats'

China's Defense Ministry said, that the goal of the war games, taking place across seven different firing ranges, is to develop more practical and friendly collaboration with the armies of participating states. Chinese MoD stressed, that the drills in several locations will enhance the level of strategic cooperation among participants, and strengthen the allies' ability to respond to various "security threats." Belarus, Moscow's steadfast ally that has served its territory as a staging ground for Russian troops to launch an offensive in Ukraine, has sent a small contingent of soldiers. Belarus Defense Ministry announced sending 250 soldiers from a mechanized brigade. 

While India sent a significant number of troops to Russia's Zapad exercises last year, in Vostok, an estimated 75 military personnel are participating. Indian Army’s contingent of the Gorkha Regiment comprising troops from 7/8 Gorkha Rifles arrived at for the combined exercises. 

“The Indian Army contingent comprising troops from 7/8 Gorkha Rifles had arrived at the exercise location and over the next seven days will undertake joint manoeuvres to include joint field training exercises, combat discussions, and firepower exercises," the Indian armed forces wrote in a release.

Moscow, on the other hand, has also drastically scaled down its troop participation compared to 2018 sending only about 50,000 personnel, a fraction of the 300,000-strong troops that participated four years ago. 2018 manoeuvres saw 300,000 soldiers, 1,000 aircraft and 36,000 tanks and armoured vehicles roll in the largest yet seen strategic-level exercise since the Cold War. As the war in eastern Europe drags into the sixth month, an estimated 50,000 Russian soldiers were mobilized for this year's drills with only 140 aircraft and 60 naval ships in the Far East, Siberia, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.