The war between Russia and Ukraine, the one that never actually went away because Russia is still holding on to Ukrainian territory, has gone hot again in the Azov Sea:
Russia has fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels off the Crimean Peninsula in a major escalation of tensions between the two countries.
Two gunboats and a tug were captured by Russian forces. A number of Ukrainian crew members were injured.
Each country blames the other for the incident. On Monday Ukrainian MPs are due to vote on declaring martial law.
The crisis began when Russia accused the Ukrainian ships of illegally entering its waters.
The Russians placed a tanker under a bridge in the Kerch Strait – the only access to the Sea of Azov, which is shared between the two countries.
This is one of those times where the original BBC picture is indeed worth 1,000 words:
Ukrainian armed forces are on full alert.
Vladimir Putin has evidently decided that he can incrementally add Ukrainian territory to Russia every few years and neither the EU nor the “world community” will be willing to do anything about it.
Tags: Azov Sea, Foreign Policy, Military, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin
Don’t get your point. Crimea is Russian, ethnically and historically. A number of wars with European powers over the centuries established that fact.
Crimea was added to the Ukraine administrative region under the Soviet commissar system in the fifties for communist “efficiency”. It was typical of Soviet communism to ignore the effects of human nature, such as ethnic loyalties, in their central planning schemes.
It makes perfect sense that Crimea return to Russia as Ukraine squeezes out from the Russian sphere of influence.
It makes perfect sense that Russia would seek to establish a Monroe Doctrine along its border region with a new hostile Ukraine emerging.
I don’t see any expansive territorial ambitions, except by NATO/OTAN as it moves ever closer to the Russian border. What US national interest does that serve? I can’t think of any.