Vostok 2018: a showcase of Russian military might and ties with China
War games planned with 300,000 troops, 36,000 military vehicles, 1,000 aircraft, two Russian naval fleets and all airborne units, along with a contingent from China
Russia’s biggest military exercise in nearly four decades will get under way on Tuesday in a five-day show of its power in the far east.
President Vladimir Putin is expected to inspect the Vostok 2018 war games involving 300,000 troops from Russia’s Eastern and Central military districts, the biggest of their kind since the Zapad 81 exercise in 1981.
Both China and Mongolia are sending troops to Vostok 2018, also known as East 2018, while Turkey, a Nato member, said it was still “evaluating the offer” from Russia.
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Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu said Moscow would engage in tri-service mock-operations involving 36,000 military vehicles, 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia’s naval fleets and all its airborne units.
A contingent from China’s People’s Liberation Army is expected to take part in the main display at the Tsugou training ground in the Eastern Military District, showing some of the results of Beijing’s unprecedented military overhaul of the past few years.
China’s Ministry of National Defence announced it was sending nearly 3,200 troops, 900 weapons, and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the exercise – amplifying the West’s concerns over the two countries’ closer military cooperation.