When a Russian coastguard vessel struck a Ukrainian tug in the Kerch Strait this week, they also hit their own partner. In fact, it looks like he damaged his countryman badly.
Russia
Russia still cannot rescue another “Kursk”, despite new diving record
Military divers from the Pacific Fleet have completed a record dive to 416 meters with the new rescue ship “Igor Beluosov”. But the overall status of Russia’s submarine rescue force is still poor.
Sinking dock leaves Russian ship repair industry in misery
It caught headlines when “Admiral Kuznetsov” almost sank along with the floating dock “PD-50”. But the really big news is that Russia no longer has this dock for its ship repair industry. Plus, it is another scandalous story about incompetence in the Russian shipyards.
We should think about why Russia breaks the INF Treaty
Before the INF Treaty collapses, it is worth pondering why Russia is building a missile that breaks it. I argue that it is because they want a conventional missile akin to Tomahawk. It is silly if we turn this into a nuclear race.
Corruption sends high-ranking naval officer to jail in Russia
The leader of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography in the Russian Defense Ministry faces prison after being found guilty of fraud.
We need better IR theories to explain Russia
Traditional theories about International Relations are simply not good enough to explain what is going on between Russia and the West. Andrej Krickovic delivers the argument in this policy memo for PONARS Eurasia.
Russia is not on the verge of apocalypse
The notion that Russia is about to collapse is way too common in Western discourse. Mark Galeotti reacts against this trend in an almost entertainingly scathing review of one such apocalyptic article.
Chkalovsk air base in Kaliningrad reopens after expansion
The primary military air base in Kaliningrad has reopened after a major refit and expansion. Now Russia can operate more and larger aircraft from Chkalovsk.
Russia’s new Karakurt-class corvette is an aggressive little warship
Russia’s new Karakurt-class corvette is a potent warship for littoral warfare. It has many improvements over the Buyan-M class and is still equipped with nuclear capable Kalibr missiles.
Michael Kofman sums up Vostok 2018
Nowhere near 300,000 soldiers took part in the exercise, but it was still interesting. Not least for its focus on a free-play scenario instead of the usual rehearsal of predefined maneuvers.
