MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu about the potential use of the Navy in various areas was prompted by the tense situation around Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"Our present-day [geopolitical] environment is very turbulent in many ways, [and] fraught with conflict situations [and] regional conflicts," he said. "We are all well aware of the geography of these regional conflicts. This is exactly what he [Putin] was speaking about."
Peskov added that President Putin held meetings with Defense Minister Shoigu both on Sunday and Monday.
"Yesterday, Putin held a meeting with Shoigu and, today, the minister also met with him to deliver a report," Peskov continued. "They discussed the Pacific Fleet’s surprise combat readiness drills in the Far East. The president listened to the defense minister’s report."
At his meeting with Shoigu, Putin noted that some components of the Navy "can certainly be used in conflicts in other directions" and asked the defense chief to bear this in mind.
On the whole, Putin highly commended the first stage of the Pacific Fleet’s surprise combat readiness drills and thanked the military for their professional operations during his meeting with Shoigu on Monday. "I want to express my gratitude to all those who organized this work," the head of state told the defense minister.
Pacific Fleet’s sudden inspection
All of the Pacific Fleet’s forces went on heightened alert on April 14 in a surprise combat readiness check. The naval sailors will exercise to prevent a potential enemy’s penetration into the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, repel the landing of an adversary force on the Island of Sakhalin and the southern Kuril Islands, Defense Minister Shoigu earlier reported.
The sudden combat readiness inspection commanded by Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Nikolay Yevmenov also involves long-range aviation, aircraft of the Eastern Military District and logistic support units. The sweeping drills are aimed at raising the preparedness of the Russian forces for "repelling a potential enemy’s aggression from oceanic and maritime directions." The exercise will also focus on operations by strategic nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarines.