The "Joint Sea 2015 II" exercises will run through Aug. 28 in the Sea of Japan and off the coast of Vladivostok.

While analysts say the operations have increased in size and sophistications during recent years, the Chinese and Russian navies have held five such joint exercises over the past decade.

But in the current round of exercises, Chinese frigates have reportedly made their first-ever visit to the Russian Novorossiysk naval base in the Black Sea.

President Vladimir Putin made headlines in the area Tuesday by joining a Russian navy team aboard a small vessel that plunged into the Black Sea along the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year.