Putin Attends Joint Military Drills With China, Others

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday attended war games in his country’s far east involving troops from China and other nations, in a show of military muscle amid the tensions with the West over Moscow’s action in Ukraine. The weeklong exercise that began Thursday is intended to showcase growing defense ties between Russia and China and also demonstrate that Moscow has enough troops and equipment for the massive drills even while its forces are engaged in fighting in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise that runs until Wednesday at seven firing ranges in…