Some 300 vessels, including submarines, and more than 20,000 personnel will be involved in the exercises, which are being staged in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Baltic and Caspian Seas.

The drills will involve "more than 300 combat exercises with the practical use of combat weapons", the ministry said.

"The main purpose of the exercises is to test the actions of the navy's military command at all levels, as well as the readiness of the ships' crews, naval aviation units and naval coastal troops," it continued.

Units from four of Russia's five navy divisions -- the Northern, Pacific and Baltic fleets, and the Caspian Flotilla -- will take part, each staging training exercises in its own "operational zones."

Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the fifth division, is engaged in the offensive on Ukraine, where it has sustained significant losses over more than two years of combat.

Ukraine claims to have damaged or destroyed a third of Russia's fleet in the Black Sea -- a notable military success for Kyiv as its troops struggle to hold ground on land.

Satellite images show Moscow has been forced to move most of the Black Sea fleet away from its historic naval base at Sevastopol, on the annexed Crimean peninsula, to Novorossiysk, further east on the Russian mainland.

Around 50 aircraft and more than 200 units of military and specialised equipment will also be used in the drills, which will last for "several days," the ministry said.