The Russian Steregushchy-class corvette Sovershennyy met with vessels of the Chinese navy to conduct joint patrols along the Korean Strait near Jeju Island.
The joint patrol, reported by the Russian state media outlet TASS, will include the Chinese Type-052D destroyer Yinchuan, Type-054A frigate Hengshui, Type-903 replenishment ship Weishanhu of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
The Russian Pacific Fleet press service announced that the vessels will conduct anti-submarine and air defense activities, as well as search and rescue operations at sea.
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The Japanese Joint Staff Office confirmed that the Sovershennyy was spotted between Wednesday and Thursday heading through the Tsushima Strait towards the East China Sea. It added that the vessel was monitored by a Japanese Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft.
The timing of the joint patrol comes just one week after trilateral naval drills, dubbed exercise “Freedom Edge,” were conducted around Jeju Island by the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
he US Navy stated that the drills were carried out to “promote trilateral interoperability and protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula” and focused on “Ballistic Missile Defense, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Search and Rescue, Maritime Interdiction, and Defensive Cyber training.”