Russian warship shields tankers from air attacks in East China Sea

As the West imposes severe sanctions on Russia, a Kremlin warship conducted a drill to protect oil tankers from air attacks in the East China Sea.

Russian media outlets reported that the crew of Russia's Pacific Fleet destroyer Admiral Panteleyev conducted the drill, wherein it shielded a medium-sized offshore oil tanker from airstrikes by imaginary enemies.

The report said that the destroyer detected and intercepted the enemy's air electronic target. According to Russian media, Admiral Panteleyev is a Russian Navy Udaloy-class destroyer that left Vladivostok with the tanker for missions in the Asia-Pacific region. It was trained late last month with a Ka-27 PS helicopter in the East China Sea.

The drill comes almost a month after Russia held a massive military exercise near the Kuril islands involving over 3,500 troops, Su-35 fighters, Mi-8 helicopters, Bastion-P coastal defense system, T-72 B 3 tanks and Orlan- 10 multi-purpose UAVs.

The destroyer's drill was to show the Kremlin's military might and the air-defense capability of Russian naval forces after the Moskva disaster. A navy analyst in Beijing told the South China Morning Post that the Russian destroyer's exercise in the East China Sea was intended to increase its capacity of countering potential Western interception of its tankers.

Russia is worried that its oil tankers and freighters could be seized under Western sanctions. Li added that equipping warships can protect these tankers by detecting and intercepting the enemy's air target in time.

Yue Gang, a former PLA colonel, told the news agency that the destroyer s escort exercise was to show the United States and its allies that Russian crude oil trade is inviolable as well as to counter Western sanctions on Russia's oil exports. Yue said Russia wanted to avoid the seizure of its tankers by other countries. The US seizure of Iranian tankers in the past can't be repeated on Russia, Yue said.

Reports state Russian oil tankers are turning off radio signals and going dark to avoid detection amid greater scrutiny by the West of Russian oil and gas exports.

The drill in the East China Sea was also used, since both the U.S. and Japan had military bases in the region. By choosing the East China Sea, Russia was brandishing its close ties with China, Yue said.

According to Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank in Beijing, Japan's tough stance on territorial disputes with Russia has also triggered Russia's tough stance on territorial disputes. The further deepening of the US-Japan alliance has resulted in Russia's concerns about tension in the Far East. This is the beginning point for Russia to strengthen military activities in the region, he told South China Morning Post.