Russia to hold sweeping joint war games with China, others

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military says it will launch sweeping military drills in the country’s east that will involve forces from China. The maneuvers that start on Thursday reflect increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the tensions with the West over the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise will be held Sept. 1-7 in various locations in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops, over 5,000 weapons units, inlcuding 140 aircraft and 60 warships. The drills will be conducted at seven firing ranges in fareastern Russia and engage troops from several ex-Soviet nations, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria.