Pacific Put Fleet On Alert For Inspection Amid High Tensions In NE Asia

State-run RIA reporting that the Russian Defence Ministry has put the country's Pacific Fleet on high alert for a surprise inspection. The inspection is intended to build its defensive capabilities. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was reported by RIA saying The main objective of this inspection is to increase the ability of the Armed Forces to repel the aggression of a probable enemy from the direction of ocean and sea,".

• Shoigu: "During the event, the Pacific Fleet will have to repel massive missile and air strikes, conduct exercises to search for and destroy submarines, carry out torpedo, artillery fire and missile launches in the course of defeating naval strike groups and ground targets of a mock enemy,"
• The drills in the Pacific come at a time of heightened tensions in the region, with North Korea test launching for the first time what is believed to be a solid-fuel ICBM. This development significantly raises security risk in northeast Asia, with militaries able to deploy and launch solid fuel missiles much more quickly than liquid fueled ones, limiting the ability of the target to take countermeasures.