Russian ships to Italy? No fake news. A few days ago a Kremlin strategic document reiterated importance of eastern Mediterranean routes to Russia’s ‘national interest’. This goal drives Putin’s supporters to start a new cold war in which ever-increasing tensions hit us. But let’s understand what happens.
Putin’s New Naval Doctrine
Months after invading Ukraine, rather than taking a step back, Putin announced a new national naval doctrine. According to the Tsar, this new planning aims to counter the security threat posed by the United States and its Western allies.
With the refrain of “denazification” and “demilitarization” already heard in Ukraine, Putin is once again exploiting the alleged need to protect and maintain Russian security to launch a new plan, this time aimed at Build naval bases at various strategic points around the world.
Vladimir Putin’s new naval doctrine is primarily aimed at the US and NATO. The 55-page policy defines an ambitious maritime policy that includes crucial areas such as: Arctic, Black Sea, Mediterranean, Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean. It also ensures a strong fleet and a boost to the missile arsenal.
The Asia-Pacific region is crucial, especially amid the dispute over world domination between the United States and China, Vladimir Putin’s last diplomatic and economic ally.
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What happened in the waters of the Italian Adriatic
A few days ago, some newspapers reported on Russian ships conducting suspicious operations off the Italian coast. What’s true? We know that the Russian and NATO navies have long faced each other in the Mediterranean and are often very close. But what happened three weeks ago never happened.
For the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian fleet entered the Adriatic Sea. Several times the ships had come from Moscow to closely follow NATO exercises and reached the waters of Calabria. But they had never dared a “blocking maneuver” aimed at restricting the movements of the American aircraft carrier “Truman”, NATO’s main operational vehicle in the Mediterranean, which in recent months has often sailed the route from Sicily to the Adriatic Sea and vice versa. Exactly what happened.
The Russian fleet in the Adriatic almost collided with NATO ships: The accident occurred directly in Italian waters along the coast before Abruzzo and Puglia. Particularly, On July 22, the Russian fleet blocked the entrance and exit to the Adriatic Sea to prevent the movement of the American aircraft carrier “Truman”..
A literally unprecedented event. The Russian operation was uncovered by The Ship Yard Naval Consultancy, which analyzed information from commercial satellites, and was confirmed to Repubblica by official sources. After the reconstructions On July 22, the Russian battleship Admiral Tributes would have crossed the Strait of Otranto and would have moved further north. Then it would have moved away from the Gargano and settled off the coast of Abruzzo, besieged by Italians and foreigners on vacation.
The Russian cruiser Varyag also followed herwith its long-range missiles that can strike from a distance of 500 kilometers and travel at 3 times the speed of sound. The latter faced the Salentoto guard the key passage for the Adriatic Sea. There was also a third warship, the “Vasily Tatishchev”, specialized in espionage and equipped with tools to intercept radio communications.
In the last days of July, the cruiser “Varyag” was less than 100 kilometers away from the American counterpart “Forrest Sherman”. The two were practically on either side of the Santa Maria di Leuca promontory. The Russians on the Adriatic side and the Americans on the Ionian side. A little further south the aircraft carrier “Truman” with almost 60 F18 Hornet fighter-bombers, escorted by the United States Navy.
On July 31, one of the largest US spy drones, GlobalHaek, which flies daily from Sigonella to the Black Sea to monitor the Ukraine conflict, patrolled part of the Ionian Sea for hours and continued to fly over a specific area: the same where An three For consecutive days, the patrols of the Italian P72 aircraft were concentrated.
Now it is not known what the current position of the Russian ships is and whether their activity was also accompanied by a submarine. However, a few days ago Italian reconnaissance aircraft are again patrolling the waters between Calabria and Greece more intensively. Experts believe so At least one of the Russian Navy ships is still in the area.
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Two Russian ships on their way to the Mediterranean Sea
In the meantime, according to specialist site Covert Shores, Two other Russian ships would head towards the Mediterraneanperhaps to replace the cruiser “Marshal Ustinov”, which has been patrolling the waters between Syria and the coasts of Sicily for the past 8 months.
One of the two would be the refueling “Academic Pashin”, similar to an oil tanker and without weapons, who also conducted espionage operations in the past. The other, on the other hand, is a military unit that is traveling without a position transmitter and cannot yet be identified.
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Where new naval bases will open: Putin’s “friendly” countries
As I said, Putin’s aim is to make Russia a “great sea power”. The new naval doctrine mentions the interest a Expanding naval-military cooperation with India, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
India is a very relevant country for its membership in the BRIC groupwhich includes Russia, nations considered to be emerging markets with great potential and could be among the dominant economies by mid-century.
Iran is the United States’ major political rival in the region. The Ayatollah regime is identified by many analysts as the main regional destabilizing element due to its aggressive stance and interference in the affairs of other states by similar Shia groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is the most powerful country in the Middle East in terms of economy and energy resourcesand recently clashed with Biden’s US over mutual differences in oil production to address the current energy and world price crisis, as well as the US government’s low interest in the Middle East.
Finally, thanks to its oil reserves, Iraq is an important country in the Gulf region.