The 2022 Russian military exercise controversy concerns proposed

military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...

s in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

southwest of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in international waters but within Ireland's

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

from 3 to 8 February 2022. The exercise was to involve both the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

and

Russian air force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

. The planned exercises were later cancelled by Russia at the request of the Irish government.

Background

By 22 January, the Irish government received a warning that the Russian military was conducting an exercise or range practice in international waters off the Irish coast in the first week of February 2022. The

Irish Aviation Authority The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) () is a commercial semi-state company in Ireland responsible for the regulation of safety aspects of air travel. Its head office is in The Times Building in Dublin. Background The authority regulates the safe ...

announced that it was to reroute flights and issue a

NOTAM A NOTAM (ICAO & FAA: Notice to Airmen, CAA: Notice to Aviation or, for the FAA from 2021 to 2025, Notice to Air Missions) is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a loca ...

. The area in question is approximately 240 km off the Irish coast.

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

had announced that military exercises would run from the end of January to end in February off the Russian coast, also in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. The Russian Embassy described reports of missile testing as "fake news" but didn't expand on the remark. The controversy took place during the

prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine In March and April 2021, prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces began massing thousands of personnel and military equipment near Russia's border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobil ...

and an alleged Russian

cyberattack A cyberattack (or cyber attack) occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content. The rising dependence on increasingly complex and inte ...

on critical Norwegian infrastructure.

Irish reactions

A spokesperson for the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

said that the department was aware of the exercises and had raised "concerns" with Moscow.

Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2022 to 2024. He served as Leader of Fine Gael#Deputy leaders, deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 202 ...

, who is both

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

and

Minister for Defence Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, told the Russian ambassador that the exercises were allowed but the timing and location is "not wanted".

Cathal Berry Cathal Berry (born 1977/1978) is an Irish former independent politician and retired soldier who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare South constituency from 2020 to 2024. Military service Originally from Ballyduff, County Waterford, Berry ...

, a TD for Kildare South, told the Dáil that the exercise was a potential threat to Irish sovereignty and that the armed forces had been underresourced.

Sorca Clarke Sorca Clarke (born 1978/1979) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency since the 2020 general election. She was elected on the first count and is the first Sinn Féin TD to s ...

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

spokesperson for defence and a TD for Longford–Westmeath said she was "deeply concerned" by the exercises. She also criticised the lack of sufficient radar and lack of funding for defence forces.

Fishermens' protests

Pat Murphy, CEO of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said that some members planned to peacefully disrupt the exercises. He spoke with a Russian official who said it would be "reckless" for them to send boats. Murphy said that he assured the official that the boats would not be engaging with Russian vessels but that they would be fishing in their traditional areas and if this had an impact on the exercise it would be considered a peaceful protest. He said that after a second telephone conversation with the embassy he had been advised that the embassy was to notify the Irish government on 27 January that the exercises were going ahead and that it was the duty of the Irish government to keep Irish fishing boats out of the specified area. Murphy said the organisation was appalled at this. On 27 January 2022, representatives of the ISWFPO met with ambassador

Yuri Filatov Yuri Nikolayevich Filatov (; , born 30 July 1948) is a Soviet-born Ukrainian sprint canoeist who competed in the 1970s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two gold medals in the K-4 1000 m event, earning them in 1972 and 1976. ...

to express concerns about the impact of the exercises on the fishing grounds. Up to 60 vessels are expected to take part in the protest. After the meeting the representatives said that a "buffer zone" between the fishing grounds and the area the exercise was taking place in had been agreed. The following day the Russian embassy denied that any such agreement had been made and the fishermen should "refrain from any provocative actions".

International reactions

French ambassador Vincent Guérend said the exercise was "unhelpful, not welcome" and offered French support to Ireland.

Announcement of relocation of exercises

On 29 January 2022,

announced in a tweet that he had received a response from the Russian Minister of Defence agreeing to his request that the exercises would be moved outside Ireland's EEZ.

Events at sea

24 January

TASS announced that the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s and had left

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

to carry out "combat exercises".

27 January

The Marshal Ustinov, Admiral Kasatonov and Vice-Admiral Kulakov are named as being involved.

31 January

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' milita ...

announced that they were following the corvettes ''Soobrazitelny'' and ''Stoikiy'' as they passed through the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. They then handed over observation duty to of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. The

Irish Air Corps The Air Corps () is the air force of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Organisationally a military branch of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Ireland, the Air Corps utilises a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to carry out ...

CASA/IPTN CN-235 The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport aircraft that was jointly developed by CASA of Spain and Indonesian manufacturer IPTN. It is operated as both a regional airliner and military transport; its primary military roles ...

was seen patrolling the areas where the Russian vessels are expected and a

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in addi ...

was seen at

Cork Airport Cork Airport () is the second-largest international airport in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin Airport, Dublin and ahead of Shannon Airport, Shannon. It is south of Cork (city), Cork City centre, in an area known as Farmers Cross. In ...

2 February

The two corvettes were reported to be off the English and French coasts. The

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

''Vyazma'' was reported to be off the English coast near

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and is thought to have been supplying the corvettes with fuel. The Russian ambassador was expected to appear before the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

Foreign affairs committee.

References

External links

Marine Notice No. 06 of 2022
- Important Safety Information on Conduct of Naval Manoeveurs (Live Fire Naval Exercise) -

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

() {{DEFAULTSORT:Russian military exercise controversy, 2022 2022 in Ireland 2022 in Russia 2022 in military history 2022 in international relations 2022 controversies Controversies in Ireland International relations Military exercises involving Russia Military controversies Ireland–Russia relations February 2022 in Europe February 2022 in Russia Prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine