These Uppity Brits Need A Slap-like Lesson

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By Bernhard, editor of Moon of Alabama

Russian coast guard boat that participated in the operation to kick the British destroyer out of Russian jurisdictional waters.

The Brits were getting a bit uppity today so the Russians responded by opening fire:

A Russian patrol ship and fighter jet have fired warning shots after the British destroyer HMS Defender violated the country’s border in the Black Sea. The UK embassy's defense attaché has been summoned by officials in Moscow.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, the British naval ship entered the country's territorial waters at 11:52am local time and traveled 3km inside the frontier, near Cape Fiolent, in Crimea. The peninsula is not recognized by the United Kingdom as Russian land and London believes it to be illegally occupied Ukrainian territory.

“At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol ship fired warning shots,” the Defense Ministry said. “(And) at 12:19, a Su-24m aircraft performed a warning bombing (4 OFAB-250) ahead of the course of the HMS Defender.”

Four minutes later, at 12:23, the destroyer left Russian territory.

The Brits denied that any shots were fired at (!) them:

UK Defense Ministry claimed that HMS conducts an "innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with the international law" and rejected Russian Defense Ministry’s claims that warning shots were fired or bombs were dropped in the destroyer’s path.

"The Royal Navy ship is conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law," the Defense Ministry press service said in its Twitter Wednesday, referring to the internationally recognized right to sail through territorial waters of a country provided they mean no harm. "We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior-warning of their activity. No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognize the claim that bombs were dropped in her path."

The Defense Ministry also claimed that the destroyer was traveling in an "internationally recognized traffic separation corridor."

HMS Defender: provocation tool.

That is non-denial denial. Warning shots are never directed AT the target.

A BBC journalist on board of the British ship does not think that it was just an 'innocent passage':

The crew were already at action stations as they approached the southern tip of Russian occupied Crimea. Weapons systems on board the Royal Navy destroyer had already been loaded.

This would be a deliberate move to make a point to Russia. HMS Defender was going to sail within the 12 mile (19km) limit of Crimea's territorial waters. The captain insisted he was only seeking safe passage thorough an internationally recognised shipping lane.

Two Russian coastguard ships that were shadowing the Royal Navy warship, tried to force it to alter course. At one stage one of the Russian vessels closed in to about 100m (328ft).

Increasingly hostile warnings were issued over the radio - including one that said "if you don't change course I'll fire". We did hear some firing in the distance but they were believed to be well out of range.

As HMS Defender sailed through the shipping lane it was buzzed by Russian jets. The Captain, Vincent Owen, said the ship detected more than 20 military aircraft nearby. Commander Owen said his mission was confident but non-confrontational.

The BBC reporter phoned his report in. One can hear Russian jets buzzing the ship.

Innocent passage with loaded weapons? That is a no no. Passing a battle ready warship through Russian territorial water without necessity? There are no 'shipping lanes' in that area but lots of room to the west to pass around Crimea.

So no. The Brits were clearly seeking a confrontation. There was also a U.S. spy plane flying in the area to record the Russian reaction.

This came just hours after the U.K had signed an agreement with the Ukraine for the "enhancement of Ukrainian naval capabilities":

Contractual work will now begin to implement the following projects:

  • Missile sale and integration on new and in-service Ukrainian Navy patrol and airborne platforms, including a training and engineering support package.
  • The development and joint production of eight fast missile warships.
  • The creation of a new naval base on the Black Sea as the primary fleet base for Ukraine and a new base on the Sea of Azov.
  • Babcock will participate in the Ukrainian project to deliver a modern frigate capability.
  • A Government to Government sale of two refurbished Sandown class mine countermeasure vessels.

The editor of the Chinese Global Times says that Britain should receive a "slap-like lesson" for today's incident. That is probably a good idea. But Russia tends to not react hastily over such issues. Revenge is best served cold.

Unrelated to the above, a slap-like lesson was given to Britain today when U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrived in Germany:

"I think it's fair to say that the United States has no better partner, no better friend in the world than Germany," Blinken said. He is scheduled to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

London will not like that statement.

Next week NATO will run its Exercise Seabreeze in and near the Black Sea in which soldiers and sailors from some 30 nations will take part. In light of today's provocation the Russian military will probably prepare some surprises for them.

Posted by b at 16:15 UTC | Comments (134)

 

The West—especially Britain—the designated provocateur—sticks to its guns.
Videos like these, always unquestioningly presenting the Western US/UK imperial viewpoint, can be found all over the place on YouTube, many prepared by amateur news interpreters. Reports by the mainstream "journalists" —CBS, BBC, France24, DW—are not much different or better.

And this video by WION service at least has the decency to insert a segment with the Russian point of view:

Addendum

The Western claim that Putin "annexed" Crimea is a lie.
AND NO MATTER HOW LOUD THE US, UK, FRANCE AND THE REST OF THE WESTERN HYENAS SHOUT THAT IT IS SO, WILL NOT MAKE IT SO.

A Big Lie (that is one repeated by many powerful sources over and over again). 
In his book Geopolitics for Dummies, Chris Kanthan has this to say about this matter:

Stop Saying, “Putin Invaded Ukraine and Annexed Crimea”
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it” – Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister. This is perfectly applicable to the accusations about Russia and Putin regarding Ukraine. Every pundit and politician keeps repeating the mantra that Putin invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. However, like many big lies, this narrative quickly falls apart under objective scrutiny.

Putin did not “invade” Crimea in 2014.
Russia has a naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea, and thus it’s normal for Russian soldiers to be in Crimea. Western media claim that some Russian soldiers sneaked into Crimea (gasp!). Even if that happened, it was not an “invasion”. No bullets were fired, no missiles were launched, and no Crimeans were shot, injured or killed. For a real invasion, one must look at what the US did and is still doing in Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc. Crimea wasn’t even truly a part of Ukraine. It was known as the “Autonomous Republic of Crimea” after the dissolution of the USSR.

Putin did not “annex” Crimea
Why the Referendum was not “rigged”
More than 75% of Crimeans speak Russian as their native language. Obviously they would choose to join Russia. There’s also intense and overt anti-Russian racism in Ukraine. For example, since 2014, Ukraine has banned Russian TV stations, Russian social media, websites etc.  Even without the ethnic factor, deciding whether to join Russia or Ukraine is a no-brainer — Russia is a global power and is vastly wealthier than Ukraine.
Nobody protested after or since the referendum. In fact, Crimeans called the outcome “going back home.”

Polls Confirm the Referendum
Western media and pollsters have done numerous polls in Crimea since the referendum in the hope that they could find some buyer’s remorse, especially with debilitating US/EU sanctions. Alas, in every poll, Crimea has asserted its loyalty to Russia.
*** Few months after the referendum in 2014, a Gallup Poll found that 83% of Crimeans were happy with the referendum
*** In 2015, when a German company, GfK, conducted a poll, it found that 82% of Crimeans fully approved and another 11% mostly approved the result of the referendum. Only 4% disapproved.

*** In a poll conducted by a German firm in 2017, again, only 2.4% of the people said they would vote differently.
Historical link between Russia-Ukraine-Crimea
It’s important to remember that Crimea has belonged to Russia for 200+ years (since 1783). In 1954, Russian leader Khrushchev – a Ukrainian by birth – transferred Crimea to Ukraine. He did it as a goodwill gesture to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Ukraine becoming a part of Russia. Nobody in Russia at that time could foresee the fall of the USSR. And Ukraine didn’t pay anything for Crimea.

Ukraine borders Russia, and Kiev was the birthplace of Russia more than 1000 years ago.  Half of all Ukrainians speak Russian. The eastern half of Ukraine is predominantly made up of ethnic Russians and would gladly secede and join Russia any time. In fact, Ukraine has been virtually split in half for the last four years.

 

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