Russia uses Navy Day festivities to promote alleged creation of pro-Russian alliance against the West – ISW

The Russian Federation utilized the Navy Day celebrations to display its connections with various non-Western countries in an attempt to establish a purportedly Russian-driven coalition of nations united against the West.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that.

Navy vessels from China, Algeria, and India participated in the main naval parade in St. Petersburg, joined by representatives from 31 other countries, including Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, Syria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin met with the Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Hu Zhongming and discussed cooperation between Russia and China in the naval sphere.

Fomin also met with Myanmar Navy Commander Win Htein to discuss further naval cooperation between Myanmar and Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohammad Hassan in Kuala Lumpur on July 28 and agreed to expand Russian-Malaysian diplomatic contacts.

Russia has recently intensified its cooperation with a number of these states, including:

• Venezuela,
• Cuba,
• India,
• Vietnam.

Key takeaways as of July 28:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to use nuclear saber-rattling to target Western decision-making and promote Western self-deterrence.
• Russia used Navy Day celebrations to showcase Russia's relations with a number of non-Western states as part of efforts to create a supposed Russian-led group of states to rally against the West.
• Ukrainian forces conducted a drone strike against a Russian oil depot in Polevaya, Kursk region, on the night of July 27 to 28.
• A rebel coalition in Mali reportedly killed and wounded dozens of Russian service members and Wagner Group mercenaries, as well as a prominent Wagner-affiliated milblogger on the Mali-Algeria border on July 27.
• Primorsky Krai Governor Oleg Kozhemyako recently announced the creation of an independent volunteer unit to police migrants as the Russian government continues efforts to expand its control over migrants in Russia.
• Russian forces recently advanced northwest of Avdiivka, west of Donetsk City, and in the western Zaporizhzhia region, and Ukrainian troops recently regained lost positions in the Siversk direction.
• Ukrainian military observer Kostiantyn Mashovets assessed that the Russian military may need to accumulate up to 320,000 additional personnel in Ukraine in order to achieve its reported plans to deploy 690,000 troops in Ukraine.

Two cases of corruption among representatives of the defense sector were reported in the Russian Federation last week, indicating the lack of political protection for these individuals.