Myanmar military offensive targets land for Russia-backed port project

Myanmar’s military has deployed hundreds of troops to forcibly clear areas marked for a Russia-backed special economic zone in the country’s south, burning villages and sealing off surrounding tracts of land, according to resistance ​fighters and a local activist with direct knowledge.

The offensive around the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) — that includes a planned deep-sea port and power plant on the Andaman Sea — is ‌the clearest sign yet that Myanmar’s pro-military administration is willing to use force to revive a project touted as a strategic alternative to the Strait of Malacca.

The push also coincides with a diplomatic charm offensive: regime leader Min Aung Hlaing pitched Dawei as a potential gateway to South and West Asia during a landmark visit to Thailand this month and discussed the project again this week in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.