Chinese and Russian naval forces kicked off the second phase of their joint military exercise codenamed "Northern/Interaction-2024" at a military port in Russia on Saturday.
The two sides will jointly complete multiple subjects in the coming days, including naval and air escort, alert defense, and firepower strikes.
At the opening ceremony, the national anthems of both countries were played, and then Chinese and Russian commanders respectively delivered speeches.
The two sides agreed that China and Russia are important forces for safeguarding world peace and development, promoting regional prosperity and stability, and advancing international fairness and justice, and that the exercise will deepen the level of strategic coordination between the two militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats.
After the ceremony, the Chinese and Russian participating warships left the dock and maneuvered to the exercise areas.
The second phase of the exercise will be carried out in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, during which the two forces will conduct red-blue confrontation drills focusing on joint air defense, ship-aircraft anti-submarine coordination, naval operations in formations, and other subjects involving the actual use of weapons.
"The 'Northern/Interaction-2024' drills are a major exercise project determined according to an annual schedule and mutual consensus between China and Russia. Over the past few days, we have summarized and exchanged experience with the Russian side on the first phase of the exercise, and conducted comprehensive consultations on the details of forces coordination and the actual use of weapons for the second phase, laying a solid foundation for the following force maneuver," said Li Mingxu, a Chinese participating officer.
The first phase of the exercise ran from Sept. 11 to 15, during which the naval and air forces from both sides completed multi-subject tasks in the waters and airspace of the Sea of Japan to test the tactical command coordination and joint operation capabilities of the two sides.
Chinese, Russian naval forces kick off second phase of joint military exercise
