The squadron comprises the large anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov, large landing ship BDK-11, and a fast missile launch. The visit is being paid under the flag of Rear-Admiral Sergei Avramenko, commander of the Primorye flotilla of the Pacific Fleet.
Initially, the squadron was to have sailed to Japan through neutral waters. But the Japanese authorities, ahead of the ships leaving for the port of Kure, suggested a route along Japan's coast, which is half as long as the original way.
"The Pacific Fleet command regards the change in the route of Russian warships as a confidence-building measure and reinforcement of cooperation between the navies of the two countries," the fleet's press-centre noted.
The current visit by Russian ships to Japan is the fifth over the past decade, during which modern Russian-Japanese naval diplomacy has been given a fresh boost following a long period of time.
Ten years ago, in Pyotr Veliky Bay near Vladivostok, the first Russian-Japanese exercise to render assistance to ships in distress on the high seas was held.
In July of this year we marked the 265th anniversary of the first expedition to Japan by Russian warships on the Pacific consisting of the brigantine Arkhangel Mikhail, sloops Nadezhda and Bolsheretsk, and boat Svyatoi Gavriil.
