VLADIVOSTOK, September 18. /TASS/. Joint Russian-Chinese coast guard exercise "Pacific Patrol - 2024" was successfully conducted in Peter the Great Gulf in the Primorsky Region, Admiral Roman Tolok, head of the coast guard department of the Russian Federal Security Service's (FSB) Border Service, reported.

He also announced that such drills will be held annually from now on.

"The exercise was successful, and we will review each episode in detail on a professional level. We plan to hold these exercises regularly, every year. The China Coast Guard will visit us one year, and the following year, we will travel to one of China's ports to meet with our friends and colleagues there. So, we will conduct similar exercises," Tolok stated.

He added that future training tasks would become more complex, allowing ship and aircraft crews to practice "according to the Suvorov principle: a hard drill makes an easy battle." The admiral also noted that this exercise marked the first time Chinese coast guard ships, rather than the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, came to Vladivostok.

According to the exercise scenario, the PRC Coast Guard received intel via its automated information exchange system indicating that a vessel flying the flag of a fictional state of Oceania had entered the Sea of Japan through the Korean Strait and was heading for Vladivostok. Operational information suggested that crew members had a record of involvement in smuggling weapons, ammunition, and military equipment. There were reasons to believe the vessel was carrying a shipment of smuggled weapons, as well as uncrewed boats. Russia and China decided to conduct a joint air and sea search for the vessel suspected of unlawful activity. For this operation, a task force was formed, consisting of three Russian Coast Guard ships: the flagship Skipper Gek, the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (which had a helicopter on board), and the Nakhodka vessel. They were joined by two China Coast Guard ships: Meishan and Xiushan, both equipped with helicopters.