Three Russian warships transited near one of the United States' allies after conducting joint activities with the Chinese Navy in the region's contested waters earlier this month.
The Joint Staff Office under Japan's Defense Ministry on Monday reported the movement of the Russian corvettes Sovershennyy, Gromkiy, and Rezkiy. Russia's Pacific Fleet said on July 16 that the Sovershennyy ended a 15-day patrol with China's navy from the northern Pacific Ocean to the South China Sea, covering a distance of 4,800 nautical miles.
The "Exercise Joint Sea-2024" between the navies of China and Russia concluded on July 17, Chinese state media reported. The exercise, which focused on joint response to maritime security threats, was held in waters near China's southern province of Guangdong, facing the South China Sea. The Russian participating units were the Gromkiy and the Rezkiy.
The three Russian vessels were first spotted by the Japanese Navy on Friday and Saturday in the "Yonaguni gap," a less than 70-mile-wide waterway separating Taiwan's east coast from Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni. On Monday, the Taiwanese military began large-scale exercises on the self-ruled island to practice fighting off a China invasion.
The Russian surface group proceeded northward in the East China Sea. At one point, they passed the Senkaku Islands, 37 nautical miles away. The islands are under Japan's control but are claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islets and by Taiwan as the Diaoyutai.
On Sunday, the warships, under the command of the Pacific Fleet, arrived at the Tsushima Strait, which lies between Japan to the east and South Korea to the west. They continued their northward voyage in the Sea of Japan, which is known as the East Sea in North Korea and South Korea. The Pacific Fleet has a naval base in the Russian city of Vladivostok.
Japan deployed ships and aircraft to monitor the Russian naval formation, the Joint Staff Office said.
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.
Russia's Pacific Fleet said on Monday that Russian warships carried out anti-submarine warfare training in the Sea of Japan. They stimulated the use of RBU-6000 rocket launchers and torpedoes to destroy the enemy's submarine after it refused to surface.
Another group of Russian Pacific Fleet's ships, comprised of cruiser Varyag and frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, completed deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. They passed through Egypt's Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea, the Pacific Fleet said on July 17.
The Russian warships began long-distance voyages in January. Their arrivals at the Red Sea come after Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked two tankers on July 15, including one with Russian oil, and a report of Russia considering supplying the rebels with anti-ship missiles.
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