As the anniversary of Vladimir Putin\u2019s brutal invasion of\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0approaches, a Russian warship armed with one of\u00a0Moscow\u2019s most powerful weapons pulled into a port on South Africa\u2019s east coast this weekend.<\/p>\n

The frigate Admiral Gorshkov \u2013 carrying\u00a0hypersonic Zircon missiles, according to President Putin \u2013 has a \u201cZ\u201d and \u201cV\u201d crudely painted in white on its blackened smokestack, just like the Russian tanks and artillery pieces that rolled into Ukraine a year ago.<\/p>\n

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It is participating in a 10-day naval exercise in the Indian Ocean alongside South African and Chinese warships, war games that South Africa says have long been planned.<\/p>\n

But the timing of the exercises has Western diplomats privately incensed and publicly critical, and they risk an embarrassing backlash for the government in Pretoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of these exercises is particularly unfortunate and will focus the world\u2019s attention on South Africa during the anniversary of the war. I don\u2019t think Western nations are going to let this one slide,\u201d said Steven Gruzd, head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very disturbing, that South Africa is hosting a military exercise with the country \u2013 an aggressor, invader \u2013 that is using its military force against a peaceful country, bringing destruction and trying to eliminate the Ukrainian Nation,\u201d said Liubov Abravitova, Ukraine\u2019s ambassador to Southern Africa.<\/p>\n

On the basis of realpolitik alone, freezing out Russia or, at the very least, postponing the naval exercises, may have seemed like a smarter choice.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s biggest supporters, the United States and countries in the European Union are also big trade partners for South Africa.<\/p>\n

European Union and US two-way trade with South Africa outstrips Russian economic ties many times over. And though Russia promises more trade deals, its battered economy is unlikely to provide the direct investment that South Africa desperately needs.<\/p>\n

South African officials also point to drills held with the French and US militaries in recent years.<\/p>\n