Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has labelled the Russian deployment of four ships, including the Pacific flagship missile cruiser Varyag, to international waters north of Australia a "stunt" and a distraction before the G20 meeting in Brisbane.
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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has also played down the significance of the deployment, which comes after a diplomatic war of words between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.
The Defence department said late on Wednesday that it was monitoring Russian naval vessels "transiting through international waters to the north of Australia".
Asked about the deployment, Mr Shorten said he didn't believe President Putin was "fair dinkum" in his assistance in getting to the bottom of who shot down the airliner.
"I think that this is a stunt. I don't think we should play the Putin game of engaging in his stunts," he said. "Ships sail around in international waters all the time. As far as I am concerned this is a distraction from families getting closure by finding out why was that plane shot down, who knows what, who was involved in that terrible atrocity."
Mr Shorten also criticised Mr Abbott's threat to "shirt front" President Putin, a type of front-on shoulder charge used in the AFL, which did not happen when the pair met in Beijing earlier this week.
Instead, Mr Abbott confronted President Putin on the sidelines of the APEC leaders' summit, holding him complicit in the downing of flight MH17 and calling for Russia to apologise and consider restitution.
Russia has rejected that demand.
Mr Shorten said the shirt-front threat had "let Putin out of the corner he was in of world opinion. And the issue has become how do we clean up Tony Abbott's diplomatic brain snap, and somehow along the line Putin has gained some sort of moral ascendancy in the discussion".
Meanwhile, Ms Bishop said the Russian ships were part of an expedition in international waters and "it's not unexpected".
"Russia is entitled, as any other country is entitled, to traverse international waters," she said. "So we have been aware of it for some time, we have been tracking it and as far as I know, they remain in international waters. Now the Australian navy, likewise, proceeds through international waters to our north and east and west. And so Russia is doing what navies do, that is, they traverse international waters."
Asked if the deployment was a show of force, Ms Bishop said: "Russia is a significant country, it has a significant navy. That's like saying when the United States is in the Pacific, is it a show of force? Well it's a significant country with a significant navy. When Australia heads up through the international waters in south-east Asia and north Asia, is that a show of force? Well, Australia is a significant country with a significant navy."
A total of 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents, died when the plane was shot down in July.
