Myanmar junta’s new defense minister, Tin Aung San, is in Moscow attending Russia’s military-technical forum and the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.
Around 60 countries are participating in the events and about 1,500 Russian companies are presenting military hardware.
Faced with international sanctions, Myanmar’s regime has deepened bilateral cooperation with Moscow.
Russia is Myanmar’s largest arms supplier since the coup, United Nations special rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews said in his report, “The Billion Dollar Death Trade: International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar.”
Myanmar’s regime has imported at least US$1 billion worth of weapons and related material since the 2021 coup, of which more than $400 million, mostly for fighter jets, was imported from Russia.
Aircraft are vital for the regime whose ground troops cannot defeat resistance forces. Deadly airstrikes are repeatedly carried out against civilians.
The regime has purchased Russian aircraft spare parts, reconnaissance drones, air-to-ground missiles and military trucks.
Moscow is using Myanmar military-produced 120mm mortar rounds in its war in Ukraine, according to Belgium-based Army Recognition.
Tin Aung San and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Monday attended the unveiling ceremony of a Myanmar monument in Patriot Park in the Kubinka area of Moscow. The monument is dedicated to those who died fighting the Japanese during World War II.
The two discussed military-technical cooperation at the ceremony.
Last year, Min Aung Hlaing conferred honorary titles on Shoigu, his deputy Colonel General Alexander Fomin, and another Russian military commander.
