The Russian Navy and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) are exercising in the East China Sea while the PLAN Liaoning Carrier Strike Group continues operating in the Philippine Sea.

On Wednesday, the Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Ministry of Defense said on a Russian Navy cruiser, destroyer and two corvettes were sighted Tuesday, sailing southwest in an area 50 miles northeast of Tsushima. The group included cruiser RFS Varyag (011), destroyer RFS Marshal Shaposhnikov (543) and corvettes RFS Sovershennyy (333) and RFS Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (339), all part of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet. The release added that the four ships sailed southwest through the Tsushima Strait into the East China Sea from Tuesday to Wednesday. The Russian ships were monitored by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) fast attack craft JS Shirataka (PG-829) and JMSDF P-1s maritime patrol aircraft of Fleet Air Wing 4 based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Honshu.

The four Russian Navy ships were traveling to rendezvous with PLAN ships for the Russia-China Joint Sea 2022, a series of joint exercises in the East China Sea that has been carried out by the two countries since 2012. This year’s iteration is taking place from Dec. 21 to 27.

Four Russian warships operating near Japan. JSDF Photo

Russian replenishment ship Pechanga is also taking part in the exercise, according to a release by China’s Ministry of National Defense. The PLAN is…