Russia announced on Thursday (20) that it will carry out exercises with its navy in January and February in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, amid rising tensions with Western countries and fears of an invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Russian government, the operation will have more than 140 warships and support ships and 60 aircraft. In all, 10,000 soldiers will take part in the actions. The exercises will take place in “waters and seas adjacent to Russian territory” and in “areas of operational importance in the world’s oceans”.
Moscow also plans to conduct naval maneuvers with Iran and China, two of the US’s biggest adversaries today. The forecast is that the exercises begin on Friday (21) and last three days across the Indian Ocean.
“Improving combat capability and readiness, strengthening military ties between the Iranian Navy and China and Russia, ensuring common security and combating maritime terrorism are among the main objectives of these exercises,” Iranian President Ebrahim said. Raisi, visiting Moscow.
The crisis with Ukraine began after Russia sent 100,000 troops to the country’s border in what Western countries see as an invasion threat that could materialize in the coming weeks. Moscow denies the intention to invade its neighbor, but has used the situation to try to stop the advance of NATO, the military alliance of Western countries, blocking Ukraine’s accession to the group.
Amid the stalemate, Russia has expanded military operations in the region and this week began sending troops to Belarus for exercises on the borders with Ukraine and European Union countries.
On Thursday, the US announced the imposition of sanctions on four Ukrainian officials and former officials accused of participating in Russian disinformation campaigns to destabilize the country.
Among the targets are two members of the Ukrainian parliament, Taras Kozak and Oleh Voloshyn, as well as former Ukrainian officials Volodimir Oliinyi and Vladimir Sivkovich, the US Treasury Department said in a statement. According to the US government, they act under the command of the Russian intelligence agency FSB and were part of a campaign to destabilize sovereign countries.
Kozak would control news outlets and reportedly supported plans to defame members of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle, as well as falsely accusing him of mismanagement. Oliinyi, who fled from Ukraine to Russia, reportedly worked with the FSB to collect data on the country’s infrastructure.
Sivkovich, a former official at the National Security and Defense Council, in turn, according to the Biden administration, tried to build support for Ukraine to officially cede Crimea to Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Europe, warned that Russian intelligence services have been recruiting Ukrainian officials to access confidential information ahead of a possible invasion. The remarks follow a gaffe by President Joe Biden, who said Western countries were divided on how to react to a “small incursion” by Russia into Ukraine.
In an interview with journalists, the Democrat said that “it’s one thing if it’s a small incursion and we end up having to fight over what to do or what not to do” and another thing would be an actual invasion, which would be a disaster for Russia. , in your words.
The speech took a turn for the worse and soon after the interview was over, the White House rushed to say that the president would not tolerate any incursion, however small. “If any Russian military force crosses the Ukrainian border, it will be a new invasion, and it will be met with a swift, stern and united response from the United States and our allies,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted. “We want to remind the great powers that there are no small incursions and smaller nations. Just as there are no few deaths and little pain for the loss of loved ones,” the president wrote in English and Ukrainian on social media. “I say this as the president of a great power.”
Ministers from Britain, France and Germany, who met with Blinken in Berlin on Thursday, also strove to demonstrate, through public statements, unity in defense of Ukraine.
Boris Johnson, who is struggling to hold on to the post of UK prime minister after a series of internal crises, said: “If Russia makes any kind of incursion into Ukraine, on any scale, I think it will be a disaster, no only for Ukraine but also for Russia.”
It was even left to the NATO secretary general to clarify that Biden’s speech “is by no means” a green light for a Russian incursion, said Jens Stoltenberg.
Officials, however, expressed frustration with Biden’s remarks in private conversations, which they described as a faux pas, something that “does not help, and is actually a gift to Putin.”
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