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According to a notice issued by the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense yesterday (August 20), the Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed that the Russian Navy's 1164-type missile cruiser ("Varyag", hull number 011) and 1155M-type multi-purpose frigate ("Marshal Shaposhnikov", hull number 543) were in the waters about 60 kilometers southwest of Iriomote Island in the Ryukyu Islands that day. The two ships then entered the East China Sea from the Pacific Ocean through the waterway between Yonaguni Island and Iriomote Island.

The cruiser Varyag (above) and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov (below) were photographed by the Maritime Self-Defense Force supply ship Mashu.

Schematic diagram of the Russian warships released by the Joint Staff of the Ministry of Defense

The two ships mentioned in the notice are the detachment of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet that set out from Vladivostok on January 22 this year to carry out a long-distance voyage. In several consecutive notices issued by the Joint Headquarters on January 23, 24 and 26, the two ships passed through the Tsushima Strait and crossed the first island chain into the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Fleet detachment observed by the Japanese Ministry of Defense on January 22 this year was accompanied by a Dubna-type fleet oiler.

After entering the Pacific Ocean, the two ships entered the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca on February 14. On February 19, the fleet arrived in Visakhapatnam, India to participate in the "Milan-2024" multinational naval exercise, which was also the first port visit of the fleet during this voyage. After the two ships visited Sri Lanka and Qatar respectively, the fleet arrived in Iran on March 11, and carried out the China-Russia-Iran "Security Bond-2024" trilateral naval exercise from March 11 to 15. The Chinese Navy lineup participating in the exercise was the 45th Gulf of Aden escort fleet (052D-type 118 Urumqi ship, 054A-type 547 Linyi ship and 903A-type 960 Dongpinghu ship).

Chinese and Russian naval vessels participating in "Security Bond-2024" Russian Ministry of Defense

After entering the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the end of March and visiting the Eritrean port of Massawa, the two ships entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal in early April. The fleet also visited the Egyptian port of Alexandria and the Libyan port of Tobruk controlled by the National Army in June. On July 17, the fleet, which had been active in the Mediterranean for 107 days, passed through the Suez Canal again and left the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Red Sea.

After stopping in Oman at the end of July, the two ships visited Kochi, India, the last stop during the voyage from August 7 to August 9. India also became the country that the fleet stopped and visited twice during this voyage. On the 13th of this month, the fleet once again entered the South China Sea from the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca. Since it set out from Vladivostok on January 22, the fleet has been sailing for 7 months, a total of 212 days, and is expected to enter the Sea of ​​Japan through the Tsushima Strait in the next few days and return to the Pacific Fleet's home port in Vladivostok.

The Varyag and the Pacific Fleet have been involved in quite a few long-distance voyages in recent years. From the end of July to August 18 last year, the Russian Pacific Fleet conducted the third strategic maritime cruise with the Chinese Navy. At that time, the Russian fleet was led by the Varyag, and included the 1155-type Admiral Tributs and Admiral Panteleyev, the 20380-type frigate Aldar Tsydenzapov, the 20385-type frigate Boom, and the oil tanker Pechenga; while the Chinese fleet included the 052D-type guided missile destroyers Guiyang and Qiqihar, the 054A-type guided missile frigates Tongling and Rizhao, and the 903A-type comprehensive supply ship Taihu. The two sides sailed more than 6,400 nautical miles in about three weeks, reaching as far as the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific. At the end of 2021, the "Varyag" set out with the "Admiral Tributs" formation, entered the Mediterranean in early February 2022 to confront the US Navy aircraft carrier strike group. At that time, the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out and continued to cruise in the Mediterranean. When it returned in November 2022, it had been sailing abroad for more than 10 months.