YANGON — The head of Russia’s navy met Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ahead of joint naval exercises which began on Tuesday, their first combined drills, according to the regime’s media.
The security exercises involving Russia’s Pacific Fleet and Myanmar’s navy will finish on Thursday in the Andaman Sea, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
Ships and aircraft will simulate the “prevention of air, water surface and underwater dangers and maritime security measures”, the paper said.
On Tuesday Russian naval chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov reportedly met Min Aung Hlaing aboard the Russian destroyer Admiral Tributs and briefed him on the ship’s capabilities.
Moscow is a close ally of the junta, providing arms and diplomatic support to the isolated regime, which described Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as justified.
In September Myanmar and Russia were joint chairs of a “counter-terrorism” military exercise in Russia’s far east that brought together several ASEAN members.
Since the February 2021 coup, the junta has imported an estimated US$406 million worth of arms and equipment from Russia, the United Nations special rapporteur for Myanmar reported in May.
Min Aung Hlaing has made several trips to Russia since the coup and met President Vladimir Putin last year.
