‘Testing the waters’: 3 countries – 3 goals during South Africa’s controversial naval drills with China and Russia
- Amid Western disapproval, Ukraine war, South Africa hosts another joint military exercise with Russian and Chinese forces
- ‘Western countries should not think too much about it,’ says former PLA instructor
Those are the same letters seen on Russian weapons on the front lines in Ukraine, and now considered patriotic symbols in Russia.
Russian media had reported that Russia will fire its new generation “Zircon” hypersonic missile during the exercises. But Russian naval commander Oleg Gladkiy insisted on Wednesday that the weapon “will not be used in the context of these exercises”.
Hypersonic missiles, considered particularly violent weapons that fly between five and 25 times the speed of sound, have been used by Russian forces at various points in the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Gladkiy said “there is no hidden meaning in the exercises we are performing”. His remarks came soon after a small yacht that flew Ukraine’s flag sailed by the Admiral Gorshkov in Cape Town’s harbour in protest, while a group gathered outside the Russian embassy in Pretoria to demonstrate against the drills.