Russia "8 Long-Range Bombers Fly Over East Sea Neutral Zone"

The Russian military continued large-scale exercises involving long-range strategic missile bombers as part of the final phase of the Far East Pacific Fleet's emergency combat readiness inspection.

According to TASS news agency on the 19th, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that eight Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted combat training flights in the neutral waters of the Sea of Okhotsk and the northern East Sea.

Russian Air Force Tu-95MS strategic bomber
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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The Tu-22M3 long-range bomber is designed to attack enemy targets on land and sea with supersonic missiles and other weapons. Its operational range is up to 7,000 km, and it can also carry nuclear weapons.

On the same day, the nuclear submarine Tomsk conducted a training exercise by electronically simulating the launch of 22 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles, destroying a virtual enemy aircraft carrier strike group detected over 200 km away. After completing the missile launches, the Tomsk nuclear submarine exited the training area.

In Kamchatka Krai and the Kuril Islands, Pacific Fleet forces conducted exercises deploying coastal defense missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion."

Since the 14th, the Russian Pacific Fleet has been conducting emergency combat readiness inspection exercises under the orders of President Vladimir Putin. On the 18th, when the exercises entered their final phase, strategic nuclear missile submarines and multipurpose nuclear submarines were deployed to designated training points within the Pacific. Two strategic bombers Tu-95MS were mobilized to conduct scheduled patrol flights in the neutral waters of the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.

The Pacific Fleet plans to conduct training to repel enemy landings in the southern Kuril Islands (known in Japan as the Northern Territories) and Sakhalin Prefecture, areas with ongoing territorial disputes with Japan, until the 22nd. Under the command of Nikolai Yevmenov, Chief of the Russian Navy General Staff, this exercise involves 25,000 personnel, 167 warships and support vessels, 12 submarines, and 89 aircraft and helicopters.

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