Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived on official visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 14, highlighting ongoing Russian-Chinese defense cooperation amid bilateral naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean.
This is what the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says in its analysis.
Russia and China share a common desire to develop military cooperation and explore new opportunities for unspecified joint defense cooperation.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) in particular released footage on October 14 of the ongoing joint naval exercises of the Russian People's Liberation Army (PLA) against submarines in the northwest Pacific Ocean and said that a detachment of naval vessels of Russia and the PLA carry out joint patrols in the Asia-Pacific region.
Such joint naval exercises are a manifestation of enhanced Russian-Chinese defense cooperation, as each side can learn valuable lessons from each other during combined exercises, improving interoperability and potentially shaping military doctrine in the future .
Russian forces have experience repelling Ukrainian autonomous maritime drone strikes against Russian maritime and port infrastructure, and the PLA may hope to learn some of those lessons when planning potential future PRC actions against Taiwan.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense warned that the PRC had begun "massive military exercises", surrounding Taiwan with warships on October 14, which coincided with Belousov's visit.
Russian forces have struck civilian vessels docked at Ukrainian ports for the fourth time since October 5, part of an apparent Russian strike campaign targeting port areas to undermine Ukraine's grain corridor , to undermine international support for Ukraine and push Ukraine into premature negotiations.
Russian sources claim that Russian forces have regained positions in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian forces recently regained their positions in the central part of Toretsk.
Russian forces recently launched a reduced battalion-sized mechanized assault in the direction of Kurahovo and recently confirmed their advance northeast of Ugledar.
On October 11, the Russian opposition publication "Verstka" reported that sources in the Russian president's administration have said that the Kremlin's "Heroes Time" program, which places veterans of the war in Ukraine in government posts after their return to Russia, is intended to boost the popularity of contract military service and to stimulate the recruitment of military personnel.
Russian occupation officials continue to pathologize Ukrainian identity by trying to indoctrinate children in occupied Ukraine.