<p class="title">Russian troops taking part in the country's largest-ever war games on Saturday held drills in the Sea of Japan, despite Tokyo's concerns about a Russian military buildup in the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The exercises were part of the Vostok-18, or East-18, war games that kicked off in eastern Russia on September 11 and will run until Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has described the week-long operation, which involves nearly 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 planes and 80 warships, as Russia's biggest-ever war games.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They are also taking place in eastern Siberia and the far-eastern Pacific region, with Chinese troops involved.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Saturday, the armed forces simulated marines capturing a shoreline area at the Klerk military training ground on a peninsula in the far eastern Primorye region supported by aviation and artillery.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What's special about this exercise is that it involves the marines, aviation, warships from the Pacific Fleet, artillery, sappers and other specialists," Major-General Dmitry Kovalenko told journalists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Japan has raised concerns over Russia's military buildup in the region, particularly on the Kuril Island chain, four of which are claimed by Tokyo in a dispute dating back to World War II that has prevented the two nations from ever signing a peace treaty.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking Thursday as he watched the drill, President Vladimir Putin promised to "further reinforce" the armed forces and supply them with "the latest generation weapons and technical equipment" at a time of rising tension in Moscow's ties with Washington and Brussels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While Russia insists the war games are long-planned and purely defensive in nature, Nato has said that they are simulating "large-scale conflict."</p>
<p class="title">Russian troops taking part in the country's largest-ever war games on Saturday held drills in the Sea of Japan, despite Tokyo's concerns about a Russian military buildup in the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The exercises were part of the Vostok-18, or East-18, war games that kicked off in eastern Russia on September 11 and will run until Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has described the week-long operation, which involves nearly 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 planes and 80 warships, as Russia's biggest-ever war games.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They are also taking place in eastern Siberia and the far-eastern Pacific region, with Chinese troops involved.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Saturday, the armed forces simulated marines capturing a shoreline area at the Klerk military training ground on a peninsula in the far eastern Primorye region supported by aviation and artillery.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What's special about this exercise is that it involves the marines, aviation, warships from the Pacific Fleet, artillery, sappers and other specialists," Major-General Dmitry Kovalenko told journalists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Japan has raised concerns over Russia's military buildup in the region, particularly on the Kuril Island chain, four of which are claimed by Tokyo in a dispute dating back to World War II that has prevented the two nations from ever signing a peace treaty.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking Thursday as he watched the drill, President Vladimir Putin promised to "further reinforce" the armed forces and supply them with "the latest generation weapons and technical equipment" at a time of rising tension in Moscow's ties with Washington and Brussels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While Russia insists the war games are long-planned and purely defensive in nature, Nato has said that they are simulating "large-scale conflict."</p>