Russia rejects Japan's criticism of Pacific naval drills, says faces threats beyond Ukraine

Moscow has rejected Japan's protest against Russia's massive Pacific naval exercises that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet.

Russia has been performing colossal naval drills in the Sea of Japan since Friday, involving 167 warships, including 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and 25,000 troops. Combat ships carried out anti-submarine drills, as well as artillery firing at sea and air targets during a sudden readiness check.

On Monday, Tokyo lodged a protest with Moscow over the drills around the disputed islands near Japan's Hokkaido, although Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that Russia had informed Japan that it would conduct missile exercises around the disputed Kuril Islands between April 18 - 22.

Later in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Japan's criticism of the drills by saying that they were taking place "in strict accordance with international law."

"Our environment is very turbulent on many fronts. It's fraught with conflict situations, regional conflicts," he said at a press conference. "We are all well aware of the geography of these regional conflicts."

Peskov also emphasized that Russia needed to be on guard against a variety of regional threats while focusing on Ukraine, against which it waged a war since February last year.

The protracted war, now in its 14th month, has strained the Russian army and Moscow is keen that despite the grinding military operation in Ukraine it can still project force in the Pacific.

Russian Pacific Fleet on high alert, conducting snap combat drills

The Russian military has put its Pacific naval fleet on high alert as part of surprise combat drills aimed at building the country’s defensive capabilities amid heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region and wrangling with the West over Ukraine.

Separately on Monday, Russia's state television showed footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving a report on the exercises from his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Putin said the drills in the Pacific had gone ahead despite the "clear priorities" of the war in Ukraine, adding that the fleet "can certainly be used in conflicts in any direction."

The Kuril Islands lie less than 10 kilometers from Japan’s Hokkaido, consisting of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan, and Habomai. Three are inhabited, while Habomai is a group of islets with only the presence of a border patrol.

The strategic islands were taken over by the Soviet army in the final days of World War II. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the four islands were incorporated into Russia but Japan continues to lay claims to the islands.

According to a joint declaration signed in 1956, the Soviet Union agreed to return two of the islands provided that a bilateral peace treaty is signed. Japan refused to sign such an agreement, insisting on the return of all four islands.

Russia has had military bases on the Kuril Islands since World War II and has deployed missile systems there.

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