Russia, Myanmar Begin First Maritime Military Exercises

Facts

• Myanmar's junta leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has met with Russian naval chief Adm. Nikolai Evmenov ahead of the first-ever Myanmar-Russia joint maritime exercises off the Andaman coast, as both countries have drawn closer amid diplomatic isolation from the West.¹
• The state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported that the drills focusing on defending against threats from air, land, and sea will be held about 157 km (85 nautical miles) west of Myeik in Myanmar’s far south from Tuesday to Thursday.²
• Russian warships bearing 800 sailors have arrived in Myanmar since last week to take part in the maritime security exercise, with the Myanmar navy warning that a five-mile radius around the exercise area will be restricted as a safety precaution.³
• The drills come as Myanmar's military faces the coordinated offensives of the resistance fighters and ethnic minority armed organizations that have seized strategic areas in the northern region of Sagaing and the eastern state of Shan.⁴
• Myanmar was among several countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that joined a 'counterterrorism' military exercise held in Russia's Far East in September. From February 2021 to May 2023, the junta has reportedly imported $406M in arms and equipment from Russia.⁵
• The UN independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, in a report to the Human Rights Council, stated in May that the junta also received $267M in weapons and material from China, $254M from Singapore, $51M from India, and $28M from Thailand.²

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²ABC News, ³Xinhua, ⁴Associated Press and ⁵The Moscow Times.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Reuters. Russia's close relationship with the brutal Myanmar junta has been growing for years now, and its threat to Southeast Asia has grown along with it. While the West must always be prepared to combat confrontational moves by Russia and China, it should also work to build diplomatic relations with the surrounding nations — many of whom share similar concerns about the rise of Moscow and Beijing in their region.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by TASS. Russia is simply working with members of the Asia-Pacific region whom the US, Australia, and Japan have left out to dry. Some member states of ASEAN, including Myanmar, have now been negatively impacted by the West's hegemonic pursuits in the region. Russia, however, believes in mutually beneficial cooperation between all states, which is why the US and its friends are stoking confrontation with those who don't bow to their demands.

Predictions