An air task force of Russian Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying aircraft and Chinese H-6K strategic bombers conducted a joint aerial patrol over the waters of the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
"On June 7, 2023, the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted a new joint aerial patrol in the Asia-Pacific region. The air task force composed of Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Hong-6K strategic bombers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted an aerial patrol over the waters of the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea and the western part of the Pacific Ocean," the ministry said in a statement.
The joint flight lasted about eight hours, the ministry specified.
Su-30SM and Su-35S jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Chinese Jian-11B fighters provided support for the air group along the entire flight route, it said.
Several strategic bombers were joined by Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S fighter craft, as well as a Chinese Shenyang J-11B, which provided air cover for the larger planes. The Chinese jet is based on the design of the Soviet-era Su-27, the first version of which entered service in 1985.
The ministry also noted that the drill was part of plans to step up military engagement with Beijing, but said it was “not directed against third countries.”
During the joint aerial patrol, Russian aircraft made landings and take-offs from a Chinese airfield and fighter jets of foreign states escorted the strategic missile-carrying bombers at some stages of the aerial patrol, the ministry said.
Russian and Chinese strategic bombers conducted their joint aerial patrol in the Asia-Pacific region in compliance with international law, it said.
"In the course of fulfilling their objectives, the aircraft of both countries acted in strict compliance with international law. There were no violations of the airspace of foreign states," the ministry said.
The strategic bombers conducted their joint aerial patrol as part of the 2023 military cooperation plan and the flight was not directed against any third countries, the ministry
"Fair Russia - For the Truth" is preparing amendments on the right of territorial defense units to use small arms, Mironov said.
While Moscow maintained the exercises were fully in line with international law, they nonetheless triggered anxiety for Japan and South Korea. Soon after the training mission kicked off on Tuesday, both countries said Russian and Chinese craft had flown too close to their airspace and scrambled fighter jets in response, with Seoul issuing a “stern” protest after claiming its air defense identification zone had been breached.
“The Defense Ministry expressed regrets to the two countries over the flight to the sensitive areas close to our air space,” the South Korean military said in a press release, adding that it was not notified about the drills in advance.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also claimed the fly-over was meant as a “clear show of force” and posed “a grave security concern” to Japan, but acknowledged that its territory was not violated.
The latest air patrol marks the sixth such exercise between Beijing and Moscow in the region and follows several other rounds of joint drills in recent months. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu declared in March that military ties between the two powers had “reached a whole new level.”
Special operation, June 6th. Main:
▪️Within three days, Kyiv launched a long-promised offensive in different sectors of the front, concentrated a large amount of equipment and manpower for this, Shoigu said;
▪️The Russian Armed Forces thwarted the attempts of the Ukrainian troops to attack: on June 4, the enemy attempted an offensive in five directions, but did not succeed in any of them; On June 5, there were attempts to attack in seven directions, the enemy was stopped;
▪️Ukrainian troops lost up to 3,715 military personnel in 3 days of hostilities, as well as 52 tanks, 48 guns and 7 aircraft and helicopters, Shoigu said;
▪️Among the destroyed equipment are 8 Leopards and 3 AMX-10 wheeled tanks, 136 units of other military equipment, including 79 foreign ones;
▪️️The attack of Ukrainian militants on the settlement of Berkhovka near Artyomovsk was successfully repelled, reports that the point was abandoned by Russian troops do not correspond to reality, the RF Ministry of Defense reported;
▪️️In the area of Artemivsk, four attempts at the offensive of the Ukrainian troops were successfully repelled, bypassing the Russian defense was not allowed;
On Tuesday night, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a group missile attack on one of the decision-making centers of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported;
▪️Russian air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian Su-25s, one Su-27 fighter, two Mi-8 helicopters, Storm Shadow and HARM missiles, destroyed ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR and Zaporozhye region;
▪️Ukrainian military intelligence planned to carry out a terrorist attack in Russia using a "dirty bomb" containing radioactive substances and render the area unusable for human habitation, the FSB reported;
▪️Ukrainian troops carried out a series of strikes on the Kakhovskaya HPP last night, Vladimir Leontyev, head of the administration of the Novokakhovka urban district, told RIA Novosti;
▪️The Kiev regime blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station in order to transfer troops to the area of its offensive operations from the Kherson direction, weakening its positions there, Shoigu said;
▪️The Russian Federation condemns the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station by Ukrainian troops, which is a terrorist act and was planned by Kiev as part of the so-called "counteroffensive", the Russian Foreign Ministry said;
▪️Russia will request a meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, said the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.
Terrorist attack on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. Important for this moment:
▪️Putin, in a conversation with Erdogan, called the destruction of the hydroelectric power station a barbaric action of Kyiv.
▪️Erdogan proposed the creation of an international commission to investigate what happened at the hydroelectric power station.
▪️The water level in Nova Kakhovka is decreasing, but it will take at least seven days before it completely leaves all flooded areas, the city administration said.
▪️In Novaya Kakhovka, electricity and water have already appeared in the morning, public utilities are eliminating the consequences. An emergency situation at the regional level has been introduced in the Kherson region.
The Cabinet of Ministers and the authorities of the Kherson region took priority measures to help people after the disaster, Deputy Prime Minister Abramchenko said.
▪️The consequences of the destruction of the infrastructure of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station may affect more than 20 thousand civilians, Abramchenko said.
▪️In total, 35 settlements were flooded in the Kherson region, said Acting Governor Saldo.
▪️After the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, there is a threat of infection in Novaya Kakhovka, one of the cemeteries is washed out, but so far the chemical analysis is in line with the standards, the head of the city administration said.
Western media are discussing what happened at the Kakhovskaya HPP:
Wall Street Journal: Destroying the dam could "buy Russia time to rebuild its defenses" and at the same time "deprive Ukraine of some options for a pending counteroffensive." For Ukraine, this could be beneficial because the flood could wash away Russian fortifications and minefields.
Washington Post: The water release sparked "deep concern" about the environmental and economic damage it caused. Ukrainian troops have previously delivered a "trial strike from a HIMARS rocket launcher provided by the Americans" at a hydroelectric power station.
New York Times: The breach of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam has increased the likelihood of "long-term environmental and humanitarian disasters" in the area.
Special operation, June 7th. Main:
▪️The Ukrainian DRG blew up an ammonia pipeline in the Kharkiv region, the RF Ministry of Defense reported. As a result of the explosion, there are victims among the civilian population;
▪️The section of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Russian Federation is cut off from the Ukrainian part, it is in good condition under constant monitoring and is safe, RIA Novosti was told in the press service of PJSC Transammiak;
▪️The Foreign Ministry said that Kyiv will not calm down and will carry out terrorist acts around the world;
▪️Kyiv is considering the possibility of blowing up a storage facility with spent nuclear fuel, the Russian Foreign Ministry said;
▪️Up to 40 thousand people were affected by the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, 35 settlements and territories were flooded, Saldo said;
▪️Putin instructed the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to organize assistance to people in the flood zone in the Kherson region;
▪️Aviation and artillery of the "Center" grouping inflicted a defeat on the positions of 3 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in two directions, RIA Novosti said in the Ministry of Defense;
▪️The Russian Armed Forces repelled three attacks by Ukrainian troops on the Vremevsky ledge, the Russian Defense Ministry reported;
▪️In the Artemovsk area, Ukrainian troops lost up to 415 people, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
