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The
"Vostok" (East) exercises also involve troops from China and
India, although it was not clear if units from those countries
were taking part in the portion observed by Putin.
The Zvezda military news service showed a clip of Putin seated
next to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, both wearing military
combat jackets and exchanging a joke as they listened to a phone
exchange between Shoigu's deputy and the head of the general
staff.
By proceeding with the four-yearly Vostok exercises, Putin
appeared to be sending a signal that Russia's military is able
to conduct business as usual despite the demands of the Ukraine
war, where his forces have suffered heavy losses in men and
equipment while being fought to a virtual standstill after
occupying around a fifth of the country.
The defence ministry says the war games that began on Sept. 1
involve only 50,000 troops, a fraction of the 300,000 they said
took part in 2018. Western military analysts say they believe
both figures are exaggerated.
On Tuesday the defence ministry released video of the naval part
of the exercise, showing Russia's Pacific Fleet practising
launching Kalibr cruise missiles which it said had successfully
struck a target more than 300 km (185 miles) away.
On Monday, Russian and Chinese combat ships practised repelling
an enemy air attack using air defence artillery systems. Last
week warships from the two countries carried out anti-ship,
anti-air and anti-submarine defence tasks in the Sea of Japan,
the ministry said.
Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared a "no limits"
partnership in February, promising to collaborate more closely
against the West.
India has sent an army contingent to the drills which it says is
taking part in "joint field training exercises, combat
discussions and firepower exercises".
Russia is the biggest supplier of military hardware to India,
which went ahead with the exercise days after the United States
said it had concerns about any country holding such manoeuvres
with Russia now.
Moscow says the war games also involve military contingents and
observers from Algeria, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and six
former Soviet republics.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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