Russian navy in show of strength with 26 new ships this year

 

Russia’s navy will deploy a total of 26 new ships this year including four carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Sunday as the country celebrated Navy Day with a show of strength.

Red alert on US destroyer in Black Sea as Russian jets ‘buzz’ aggressively overhead just yards above deck

 

This dramatic footage shows the moment a Russian fighter jet buzzes a US destroyer in the Black Sea.

The aircraft comes within yards of the the deck on the USS Porter as it shoots overhead.

Report: Russia Revives Soviet-Built Military Bases in Crimea

Russia is working to resurrect a number of Soviet-built military facilities in Crimea that were used during the Cold War as a defense against naval attacks, Reuters reported Tuesday.

A resident from Crimea’s southern coast who was employed at a base last year said Moscow has begun stationing soldiers in the formerly abandoned bunkers and blocking the roads that lead to the areas.

Russia sends cruise missile ships to Mediterranean

The Russian Buyan-M corvette Zelyony Dol, seen returning from the Mediterranean in September. (Russian Ministry of Defence)

 

Three Russians warships, including two armed with long-range land-attack cruise missiles, have been sent to the Mediterranean.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported on 5 October that the Black Sea Fleet’s Buyan-M class corvettes Serpukhov and Zelyony Dol had left their home port of Sevastopol on 4 October and were en route to the Mediterranean.

Putin Eliminates Ministry Of Crimea, Region Fully Integrated Into Russia, Russian Leaders Say

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a proposal Wednesday that would get rid of Russia’s ministry in war-torn Crimea, the Russian News service Life News reported. The Ministry for Crimean Affairs will be replaced by a special commission. The dissolution shows that Crimea has been fully integrated into Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

Russia’s Conduct In Line With Great Power Status – Norwegian Entrepreneur

In the article, Ruud states that Russia’s decision to accept Crimea into the Russian Federation last year was necessitated by strategic, military and political considerations, adding that Europe’s overreaction has left relations with Russia in a hopeless deadlock, resulting in tremendous losses for Norwegian and European businesses.

“We must accept that Russia is and will continue to be a great power, which seeks to interact with all members of the world community as a great power,” the journalist noted.

Russia starts reinforcing naval fleet in Crimea

Sevastopol (AFP) – Russia announced Wednesday that it had begun expanding and modernising its Black Sea fleet based in Crimea with new ships and submarines, just months after annexing the peninsula from Ukraine.

“Today we have started forming a powerful Black Sea fleet with an absolutely different level of air service, coastal missile and artillery troops and marines,” said Alexander Vitko, the Black Sea fleet commander, in a message to servicemen.

Turkey Warns Russia it Will Blockade Bosphorus if Violence Occurs

According to diplomatic sources, Turkey has threatened Russia with a blockade of the Bosphorus Strait

The threat to close the Bosphorus to Russia comes from a report by Hvylya, citing a Turkish diplomatic source. According to the source, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan yesterday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone and warned of the consequences for conflict with Ukraine. The Hvylya source was also reported on by UNIAN.

Russia Could Take Command of Half of Ukrainian Fleet – Lawmaker

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Up to 20 warships and auxiliary vessels of the Ukrainian navy could become part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet following the reunification of Crimea with Russia, a senior Russian lawmaker said Tuesday.

According to Adm. (Ret.) Vladimir Komoyedov, chair of the State Duma Committee on Defense, the Ukrainian navy comprises some 40 ships, 20 of which are currently docked at naval bases in Crimea at Sevastopol and Donuzlav Bay.

Crimea Back in ‘Home Port,’ Putin Tells Crowd in Red Square

For additional information, see also: After a harshly anti-American speech to Russian parliament, Putin signed the Crimean treaty (DEBKAfile)

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Crimea is back in its “home port” after a long and difficult journey, the Russian president told a crowd of about 120,000 people, who gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to show their support for the breakaway peninsula.

…

“After a difficult, long and exhausting journey, Crimea and Sevastopol have returned to Russia – to their home harbor, their home shores, their home port,” Vladimir Putin said.

Russia reportedly seizes a Ukrainian military base, begins air drills in Crimea

For additional information from a second source, please see the following article: Report: Russian soldiers storm Ukrainian military base in Crimea

Armed men believed to be Russian seized a Ukrainian military base in Crimea Friday, triggering a standoff but no gunfire in the latest incident of escalating tension in the flashpoint peninsula.

The move followed reports earlier in the day that Russia had begun large-scale air defense drills.

Witnesses say Russian troops broke through the gate of a missile defense base with a military vehicle, trying to break into a command post, but no shots were fired, Interfax Ukraine reported.

Russian Ships Arrive On Ukraine’s Crimean Coast As Fears Mount Over Russian Invasion In the Region

Berlin and Washington upped the ante, had the current Kiev regime overthrown and now Moscow has responded. In addition to what DEBKAfile had reported, the Russians are now preparing for potential conflict in the nearby sea. To what extent this will play out is not yet known.

According to Russian news site flot.com, Russian military ships carrying soldiers have arrived on Ukraine’s Crimean coast in what some are claiming could be the early signs of a Russian coup in the hotly disputed autonomous region of the Crimea.

Russia’s large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov has arrived near the Russia Black Sea Fleet’s base at Sevastopol, which Russia has leased from Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian units transferred from securing the Sochi games to the Ukraine border

debkafile’s military sources report that units of the Russian forces which formed a steel ring around the Olympic Winter Games that ended in Sochi Sunday were flown and shipped Monday, Feb. 24 to Russian bases at the Ukrainian Crimean port of Sevastopol, as Moscow refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new authorities in Kiev.

Giant Russian Air Force transports and rapid deployment forces were placed on alert at the Rostov on-Don base east of the predominantly Russian-speaking southeastern Ukrainian town of Donetsk.

From Nicaragua canal to Ukraine ports, developer is on a roll

While the fight between Germany and Russia over Ukraine ensues, China steadily continues its own maritime agenda.

Wang Jing, the Chinese billionaire behind the plan to build a waterway across Nicaragua to rival the Panama Canal, is on an international infrastructure binge.

While Ukraine digs itself deeper into political crisis, Beijing Interoceanic Canal Investment Management (BICIM) has been quietly getting on with business.

Russia staffs Mediterranean fleet. Turkey weighs payback for Syrian bombings

Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov said Sunday, May 12, that the process is underway for creating a permanent staff to run Russian fleet operations in the Mediterranean Sea.  Speaking at Sevastopol, the Black Sea fleet’s home port, Adm. Chirkov said a staff of 20 officers was already in place. And the Mediterranean deployment would comprise five to six warships and their service vessels as well possibly as nuclear submarines which, say our military sources, are armed with nuclear ballistic missiles.

debkafile’s military sources: The new permanent deployment is the next Russian step for safeguarding Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus and deterring military attacks on his Hizballah allies and Iranian interests in their three-way bloc.

Moscow is also announcing loud and clear that Russia is finally restoring its military presence to the Middle East in 2013 after the last Soviet squadron exited the Mediterranean in 1992.