"Russia's Pacific Fleet undergoes surprise war games and anti-submarine exercises"

The Russian Pacific Fleet has been put on high alert for snap drills that will involve missile launches and nuclear-capable strategic bombers, as well as other warplanes. The drills are intended to test the capability of Russia's armed forces to respond to aggression. The scenario envisages a response to an adversary's attempt to make a landing on Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands, which Japan asserts territorial rights to. The drills come amid tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine and days before a planned trip to Moscow by Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu.