Signs of Russia's long relationship with Indonesia are hidden in plain sight.
Across the road from the ABC's Jakarta bureau, surrounded by glittering malls, five-star hotels and skyscrapers, stands the city's welcome monument: a Soviet-inspired statue erected in the early 1960s.
All across the Indonesian capital, key public landmarks are in the style of socialist realism pioneered by Soviet artists under Stalin.
The Indonesia-Russia relationship was an unusual focus for several days of the Australian federal election campaign this week after military intelligence firm Janes reported that Russia was seeking to send long-range aircraft to an air force base in Indonesia's Papua province.
The Indonesian defence minister has since said this will not happen.
Yet Moscow has been steadily courting military links with Indonesia and other countries in the South-East Asian region for decades.
"On the Russian side, there has been very great interest in Indonesia for many years," said Leszek Buszynski, an honorary professor with the Australian National University's Strategic & Defence Studies Centre.
And links with Russia extend beyond the arms trade and joint exercises.
Indonesia's Culture Minister Fadli Zon, vice chairman of President Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra Party, is a famous Russophile.
He holds a degree in Russian literature from the University of Indonesia — the country's best university.
Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, which Mr Subianto lost, Mr Zon said that Indonesia needed a strong leader like Russia's Vladimir Putin.
"If you want us to rise and be victorious, Indonesia needs a leader like Vladimir Putin: brave, visionary, intelligent, wise," he declared.
Mr Zon did not respond to the ABC's request for an interview.
Indonesia's decision to join Russian-led bloc 'natural'
Indonesians, like populations elsewhere in the global south, do not have the same negative perceptions of Moscow that prevail in the West.
Western powers including Australia have imposed sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, whereas non-aligned nations such as India and Indonesia have continued to purchase Russian arms and fuel.
A Pew poll from mid-2023 showed that 70 per cent of Australians surveyed had a "very unfavourable" view of Russia — compared to just 6 per cent of Indonesians.
That does not necessarily signal wholesale endorsement of Mr Putin's regime, however.
Indonesia's founding father Sukarno, a left-leaning nationalist still beloved across the political spectrum, had warm relations with Moscow under the Soviet Union — hence the statues around Jakarta.
The relationship deteriorated with the annihilation of the Indonesian Communist Party in the mid-1960s and the installation of a right-wing dictatorship led by Suharto.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and of Suharto's New Order regime in the 1990s, bilateral ties have steadily strengthened yet again.
In January this year, Indonesia became the first nation from South-East Asia to join the BRICS bloc of countries from the global south founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The head of the Lowy Institute's South-East Asia program, Susannah Patton, told ABC Radio National Breakfast that as a body that provides greater voice to non-Western powers, it was "natural" Indonesia would want to join BRICS.
"I wouldn't see this decision to join the BRICS as a decision to align with China and Russia. Within the BRICS there's a very broad group of countries," she said, explaining Indonesia was like Brazil and India in being non-aligned rather than anti-Western.
"President Prabowo's interest in joining this group suggests that he wants to be a much more active diplomatic player."
For Professor Buszynski, a more assertive Indonesia in global affairs would be a good thing.
"A strong, non-aligned Indonesia — one that is confident and one that can't be swayed by a potential enemy — it works in our favour," he said.
"It's much more important to have Indonesia as a protective shield to our north in relation to China.
"If Prabowo dallies a bit with Russian jets, well that should not concern us too much."
