Japan reports passage of the ‘largest’ flotilla of Russian warships
The Ministry of Defense of Japan reported that 28 warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet passed along the La Perouse Strait (between the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin). The ships left from Okhotsk in the Sea of Japan reports Kyodo news outlet.
Japan authorities believed that this is the largest group of Russian ships to make this trip since the Cold War. Kyodo emphasizes that the ships did not commit any hostile actions or violate Japanese territorial waters.
The squadron includes supply ships, destroyers, frigates and other ships. They entered the strait on September 1st late at night and finished 210 km from the northern coast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido on the afternoon of September 2nd.
The forces of the Russian Pacific Fleet are conducting military exercises in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, said Nikolai Voskresensky, Pacific Fleet Captain 2nd Rank and head of the information support for the Pacific Fleet. The military exercises include more than 40 combat ships, missile boats, submarines and auxiliary fleet vessels.“ The exercises also include onshore missile systems as well about a dozen aircraft of the naval aviation fleet,” noted Voskresensky.
The vessels are training to counter submarine attacks, organizing an anti-aircraft defense, practicing missile strikes against enemy ships, as well as training in tasks of material and technical support to forces at sea.