Trilateral naval train underway in South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa participated within the opening ceremony for the trilateral naval drills involving Russia, China and South Africa.

The naval train, named Mosi II, is going down off South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast.

Talking on the opening ceremony, Russian Navy Commander, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, reaffirmed the shut ties between the three international locations.

“(This, Ed.) definitely grew to become a landmark occasion, confirming the excessive degree of cooperation between our international locations. This truth speaks of our deep curiosity in strengthening naval cooperation geared toward guaranteeing safety on the planet’s oceans and countering new threats at sea”, stated the high-ranking Russian officer.

Based on the South African authorities, no less than 350 members of South Africa’s navy and different navy branches are collaborating within the train, the second time since 2019 the three international locations organise naval drills.

“Now the South African Defence Pressure is guarding very important infrastructure in opposition to those that would endanger the safety of the state to advance their very own private pursuits. We now have deployed them in very important areas the place we have now our infrastructure. As an example at Eskom and in numerous different components, water techniques and so forth”, stated South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The armed train takes place in opposition to the backdrop of the struggle in Ukraine and elevated tensions between China and the US.

The ships collaborating within the maritime drills embrace a Russian frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, which is armed with hypersonic missiles, in addition to an oil tanker for refueling, a South African frigate and three Chinese language ships – a destroyer, a frigate and a assist vessel.