Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that Moscow and Beijing held drills practicing search and rescue operations on a captured cargo ship during the Peaceful Sea 2022 naval exercises.

"During the exercise, Russian ships in cooperation with the Chinese Navy performed tactical maneuvering and search operations of a captured cargo ship, played by the Boris Butoma tanker. The sailors also practiced liberation of the captured ship," the statement says.

The statement said that the Russian side used a group of Pacific Fleet ships, including the Varyag missile cruiser, the Admiral Tributs large gunboat, and the Boris Butoma tanker.

As for the Chinese Navy, it partook in the exercises with the Urumchi missile destroyer and the Taihu supply ship.

The joint Russian-Chinese naval exercise Peaceful Sea-2022 took place in the Arabian Sea.

Russian and Chinese ships practiced tactical maneuvering, organization of inspection and conducted an operation to release the conditionally captured vessel https://t.co/d3BBZi2N8D pic.twitter.com/6HDsxXJ68H

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) January 25, 2022

After the exercises were over, Russia's Pacific Fleet naval group continued its long-range march mission, according to the statement. 

Last week, Russia, China and Iran's navies held joint exercises in the Indian Ocean, whose aims were to consolidate security in the region, expand multilateral cooperation between the three nations, and demonstrate goodwill and the ability of the three countries to join efforts in the path to world peace and maritime security with a shared future.