Russian and Chinese navies join forces in Gulf of Finland exercises

The Russian defence ministry announced that the Baltic Fleet participated in joint exercises with Chinese units in the Gulf of Finland.

"TA PASSEX-type joint Russian-Chinese exercise took place at the naval military ground of the Baltic Fleet’s Leningrad naval base in the Gulf of Finland. It involved the The Soobrazitelny corvette of the Russian Baltic Fleet and the Jiaozuo destroyer of the Chinese Navy," the ministry reported.

The ministry emphasised that "using its radio equipment, the crews detected the mock enemy’s mine barriers and destroyed them using the onboard artillery, and practiced joint search and rescue actions and aiding a mock surface ship, damaged in a fight, as well as saving the crew on the water."

The crews of both ships also practised rescue missions in the water.

On Sunday, Vladimir Putin attended the Navy Day celebrations in St. Petersburg. A Chinese fleet ship arrived in Russia in connection with this event.

Putin personally welcomed units from "friendly states," to which he arrived by cutter. First, he thanked the Chinese sailors from the warship Jiaozuo for their presence, then he went to the Algerian training ship Soummam, and on the return trip, he stopped to greet the crew of the Indian warship Tabar.

The British Ministry of Defence noted that since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, numerous events in Russia have been canceled for security reasons. However, this particular event stands out as the most significant, highlighting growing challenges for the Kremlin in safeguarding its armed forces.