Russian frigate to depart Algeria following joint naval exercise

The Russian frigate “Admiral Grigorovich” will depart from Algeria today after conducting eight days of joint military exercises with Algeria’s navy. 

This is the third recorded instance of Russian-Algerian naval exercises taking place in the last twelve months. The exercises are aimed at deepening interoperability and bolstering strategic ties between both navies. Algeria and Russia’s military cooperation is not new; since 2002, around 75 percent of Algeria’s arms imports have come from Russia. Russia will be keen to retain its Mediterranean naval presence and its relationship with Algeria, which it sees as a strategic gateway into Africa as well as a useful ally to have so close to European shores.

The exercises highlight a strengthening of Russian-Algerian relations, which suffered a setback after the BRICS bloc rejected Algeria’s membership bid last August, while admitting six new countries. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Algeria has tried to maintain good relations with Russia and the West, for example by remaining neutral in UN votes. However, the increasing frequency of these exercises, which demonstrates not only Russian but Algerian willingness to maintain this partnership, will be worrying for Western nations which have been trying to woo the North African country of late.