Русский
The Russian Navy has sent some of its Pacific Fleet ships to the Indonesian island of Bali to participate in the international exercise Komodo-2025. The Russian ships travelled more than 6,000 nautical miles, conducted a number of exercises and visited the Chinese Far Eastern port of Qingdao. As part of the exercises, the sailors of the two countries will practice joint manoeuvring as part of a squadron, search for submarines, repulsion of air raids of the conditional enemy, as well as exercises in the fight for the survivability of ships. In addition, sports and cultural events will be held during the visit. During the visit, the crews of the corvettes and tankers of the Talnakh Concentrator will visit Indonesian Navy ships and conduct visits to their Indonesian colleagues ships.
The Russian detachment includes the corvettes Aldar Tsydenzhapov, the Rezkiy and the tanker Pechenga who have all arrived at Bali. During these visits, the ships’ crews conduct exercises together with the Indonesian navy foreign sailors and study the seas in the southern hemisphere.
The Russian Navy is strengthening its positions in the Asia-Pacific region, as the fleet has rarely visited the southern seas since the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, over the last two decades, the role of the Asia-Pacific region in world politics and economics has increased, meaning a Russian presence there has become necessary. Russia also has the capacity to provide it, as its Pacific Fleet has strengthened in recent years. It currently consists of 10 large ships of the first and second ranks, of which the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov has undergone modernization, while five new corvettes were recently added to the fleet from Russian shipyards.
Russia has a special relationship with Indonesia, assisting the then-emerging nation in its liberation from Dutch occupation after WWII, supplying weapons – including cruisers and submarines to the Indonesian navy. Last year, three Russian corvettes – Gromkiy, Aldar Tsydenzhapov and Rezkiy all sailed from Vladivostok to the Indian Ocean, where they took part in the Orruda-2024 naval exercises for the first time, which Indonesia has been organizing for several years.
Indonesia is one of the largest countries in southeast Asia, with a population of 278 million and a rapidly growing economy, and became a full BRICS member in January, while continuing to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Russia via the Eurasian Economic Union. That is expected to be concluded later this year.
Russia is also making progress in naval co-operation with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and has concluded a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with North Korea.
The period from 2025 to 2037 will be particularly important for Indonesia and Russia’s efforts to strengthen their strategic partnership. The two countries can forge a strong and sustainable alliance that will enhance regional security, support economic growth and ensure international stability by focusing on maritime cooperation, defence modernisation and strategic diplomacy.
Last year, ships and vessels of the Russian Navy made over 50 long-distance voyages, visiting numerous ports in the Global South. These included Cuba, India, Venezuela, China, and the Middle East, while the cruiser Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov completed a seven-month voyage, sailing from Vladivostok to the Mediterranean Sea and back . They took part in a number of exercises and made port calls in various countries, including Eritrea’s Massawa port – the first visit by a Russian warship since Eritrea’s separation from Ethiopia.
The frigate Admiral Gorshkov, together with the nuclear submarine Kazan, visited Havana in the summer, being the first stop at a foreign port by a Russian nuclear submarine since 2004.
Last year, the Russian Navy held its largest naval exercises since the Soviet era, dubbed Ocean 2024 Exercises. That involved Russian navy forces from the Baltic, Northern and Pacific fleets, the Caspian flotilla and the permanent naval formation in the Mediterranean Sea. That was aimed at checking the readiness of the senior staff of the Russian Navy to operate all-arms groups of forces in the areas of responsibility, to solve non-standard operational tasks, and to make full use of high-precision weapons, advanced and modern weapons and military hardware.
The exercises took place from September 10 to 16, 2024, and involved 400 ships, and about 90,000 servicemen. Almost all the Russian navy participated with the exception of the Black Sea Fleet which were engaged off the Ukrainian coast. For the first time, the Chinese navy also took part in the exercises.
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