Vostok 2018

[3] Sergey Shoigu, Russian Minister of Defence, boasted about the drills saying, "Imagine 36,000 military vehicles moving at the same time: tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles – and all of this, of course, in conditions as close to a combat situation as possible.

"[12] Deputy Defence Minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin reported that 91 foreign observers from 57 countries would be attending the exercise.

[12] Before the exercise, Beijing reported that its troops would be participating at the Tsugol training range in the Trans-Baikal region.

[15] Again before the exercise, there are reports that there will be sharing of information between the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Liberation Army on combat lessons from the Syrian Civil War.

[16] President of Russia Vladimir Putin visited the drills after attending the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.