Russian Fleet Ramps Up Naval Exercises Near US Allies

Russian naval forces stationed near U.S. treaty allies in Asia have held a second consecutive week of live-fire training as they ramp up maneuvers ahead of larger springtime exercises. Three warships with Russia’s Pacific Fleet, home-ported on the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, were involved in “artillery firing” drills against a range of simulated enemies, according to a statement on Wednesday carried by the Russian news agency Tass. The Russian fleet is headquartered in the closed town of Fokino in the country’s Far East on the Sea of Japan, which is known in both North and…