Amid the Ukraine war, Russia began a large-scale military maneuver with more than 50,000 troops on Thursday. The nearly week-long drill is being held in the east, thousands of miles from the fighting in Ukraine. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, countries such as China, India and Mongolia, Myanmar and Laos are also involved, as well as several former Soviet republics, with Belarus in the lead.

In this way, Russia wants to show solidarity with other countries at a time of extreme tension with the West. According to Moscow, 5,000 military vehicles will be used in the exercise “Vostok 2022” (“East 2022”), as well as 140 aircraft and 60 other warships and ships. That will be on a much smaller scale than around 2018, when, according to Russian information, nearly 300,000 troops took part in the Vostok maneuver. The maneuvers are now being carried out in military training areas in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, as well as in the Sea of ​​Japan. In particular, the participation of China and India in the maneuver attracted attention in the West.

Relations between the world’s two most populous nations and nuclear powers have been strained since a military incident on their common border in the Himalayas two years ago that killed several people. India’s participation is also interesting because the country has always emphasized its neutrality in the Ukraine war in recent months and has stated it has good relations with Western countries and Russia. On the one hand, most of India’s military equipment comes from Russia, on the other hand, India is part of the Indo-Pacific Quad security alliance along with the US, Japan and Australia. In this mixed situation, India has refrained from making official statements about military exercises.

At the same time, Moscow had difficulty mobilizing troops in the war against Ukraine

While the maneuver has begun with tens of thousands of troops, Russia appears unable to mobilize enough troops for the war in Ukraine. At least that’s what the US Secret Service found. “The Russian military is suffering from a serious troop shortage in Ukraine,” said a US intelligence official familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity. The Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to recruit the armed forces, “among other things, by forcing wounded soldiers to return to war, by recruiting personnel from private security companies and by paying conscription bonuses.”

There are credible reports that Russia “is also likely to recruit convicted criminals in exchange for pardons and financial compensation.” Last week, Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin issued a decree to increase Russian troops from 1.9 million to 2.04 million troops.