India and Russia begin INDRA 2026 as INS Sahyadri arrives in Vladivostok

India and Russia have launched the 2026 edition of their bilateral naval exercise INDRA with the Indian Navy frigate INS Sahyadri arriving in Vladivostok to begin harbour activities and planning talks with Russian naval personnel.

Indian and Russian teams opened the harbour phase with a planning conference between the operations crews of INS Sahyadri and the Russian corvette Aldar Tsydenzhapov, and the Indian Navy posted that the harbour phase had commenced.

One source reports the maritime practical phase will occur in the Sea of Japan on October 16–17, and another reports the full exercise runs from October 13–18, 2026, with Vladivostok serving as the host port.

INS Sahyadri is identified in the reporting as the third Shivalik-class guided-missile stealth frigate, built in India and commissioned in 2012; the ship previously took part in the Japan-India Maritime Exercise in October 2025 and other multinational activities, according to one account.

The exercises are described in the sources as involving harbour-based engagements and coordinated at-sea activities; reporting does not list the specific drills or weapon systems to be used during INDRA 2026 beyond those general descriptors.

The Russian Defence Ministry is cited in one source announcing that INDRA 2026 has begun in Russia's Chelyabinsk Region and the Russian Far East, while Indian reporting links the visit to momentum from the 23rd India‑Russia Annual Summit held on December 4 and 5, 2025.

The available accounts emphasise bilateral planning and interoperability aims: bringing personnel together for planning conferences, harbour exchanges, and a practical maritime phase in the Sea of Japan.

Coverage differs in the level of scheduling detail: one outlet provides exact exercise dates and an arrival date for INS Sahyadri in Vladivostok, while another focuses on the harbour-phase planning conference and cites the Russian Defence Ministry's broader announcement of cross-branch exercises in multiple Russian regions.

No source in this package provides independent verification of the planned at-sea activities beyond the schedule and planning conference announcements.

The sources document a move of INDRA into Russian waters for 2026, noting Vladivostok as host; they also recall that INDRA began in 2003 and that prior editions have been held in Indian waters, with the 14th edition staged off Chennai and in the Bay of Bengal in 2025.

Reporting in this set does not include casualty figures, claims of combat operations, or statements from third-party governments about the exercise.

Taken together, the sources show a bilateral naval exercise now under way with preparatory harbour engagement in Vladivostok involving INS Sahyadri and Russian naval units, followed by a scheduled practical maritime phase in the Sea of Japan in mid-October 2026.