On Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean would be on alert and start maneuvers that had not been previously announced, in an atmosphere of rapprochement with Beijing and tension with the West.

Under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu said Russia's Pacific Fleet, stationed in Vladivostok in the Far East, would "in a short time" conduct combat exercises in "near and distant" sea areas.

During the exercises, the Pacific Fleet will train to "repel massive air attacks", "searching and destroying submarines" as well as firing torpedoes, artillery and missiles, Shoigu said during a meeting with senior officers.

The Minister of Defense stated that these maneuvers aim to "strengthen the capabilities of the armed forces to repel an attack."

Shoigu said that Admiral Nikolai Evminov, commander of the entire Russian fleet, will supervise these exercises.

For his part, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that these maneuvers are "not linked" to the presence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Asia-Pacific region, where attention is focused on China and its American rival.

"It is a normal and routine military training and development of our armed forces and check their combat readiness," he said, noting that it is "not scheduled" for Putin to attend.

He added, "The practice of sudden checks continues and is usual, and in recent years it has been steadily."
This comes while Beijing, which is constantly conducting joint military exercises with the Russian army, announced on Friday that the Chinese Defense Minister will visit Russia from April 16 to 19.