Russia reverts back to

Russia is flexing it’s muscles by restarting cold war patrols. President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is resuming it’s Soviet-era tactic of sending it’s bomber aircraft on long-range flights.
Mr Putin said this move, which hasn’t been used in 15 years, was due to security threats posed by other military powers. 14 bombers took off from Russian airfields on Friday. Last week Russian bombers flew within a few hundred miles of the US pacific island of Guam. A few days ago strategic bombers had also began flying excercizes over the North Pole.

“We have decided to restore flights by Russian strategic aviation on a permenant basis. In 1992 Russia unilaterally ended flights by it’s strategic aircraft to distant military patrol areas. Unfortunaly, our example was not followed by everyone [reference to the US having training missions close to Russia in the Pacific] Flights by other countries’ strategic aircraft continue and this creates certain problems for ensuring the security of the Russian federation” – Russian president Vladimir Putin

In Washington the US response was:

“We certainly are not in the kind of posture we were with what used to be the Soviet Union. If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that’s their decision” – State department spokesman Sean McCormack

The reason why Russia halted it’s aviation patrols fifteen years ago was because it simply couldn’t afford the fuel, due to the power of the Soviet Union breaking down and the West taking advantage of this.

Nato fighters were said to be shadowing these Russian bombers in Friday. Itar-Tass (Russian news station) quoted air force spokesman Alexander Brobyshevsky as saying:

“At present, several pairs of Tu-160 and Tu-95MS aircraft are in the air over the atlantic and pacific oceans, which are accompanied by NATO planes. NATO said it was ‘aware of the flights but had no comment on whether NATO planes were in attendance’.

Last week Russian bombers were so close to US fighter pilots who were scrambled to track them, they could smile at them, a Russian general commented.

Only last month Norway and Britain scrambled fighter jets to intercept Russian Tupolev 95 aircraft bound for Scotland. Also recently Russian bombers have also flown close to US airspace near Alaska.

“New Face Russia”

This is all the programme for new Russia. After a traumatic fifteen years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been subjected to be a minor power in the world’s political game. The Russia of the 90s was economically and militarily very weak, with Chechan terrorists wreaking havoc all the way up to 2004. The fall of the Soviet Union hurt Russian pride, suddenly one day from being a world super-power…to nothing, was a hard transition for most of the Russian populace. That was that day.
Today, Russia is basically rolling in oil, gas and money. Not afraid of NATO anymore, after being refused to enter Belgrade in the Balkan crisis in 1998/1999. Russia has joined the Shanghai Corporation (see Iza Ding’s article below) where 6 nations have come together to counter NATO in Asia. Russia has also been a very stubborn ally suddenly. Over the Litvenko affair, Russia expelled four British diplomats, and refused to release any anti-terrorism information to the UK. The Russians have also claimed land in the North pole said to be very rich in oil. Canada and Norway have both stepped up their military in the North Pole, with the Canadians deliberating over whether to build a military base their. Russia also said that they were pointed their missiles to European targets after the US built missile defense systems in Eastern Europe. This is all a new powerful Russia which is making the West nervous, it’s late allegiance with China and other Asian countries has been seen as hostility by the EU and the US. Russia has also been known to stop it’s oil/gas supplies to Europe, in Feb 1999 Lithuania asked Moscow why Russian oil companies stopped crude oil shipments to Lithuania’s only oil refinery, causing it to be shut down and a couple of years ago stopped gas supplies to eastern Europe during a bitter argument between some eastern European countries and Russia. Russia also is known to stretch it’s arm like it did back in the cold war, suspected of killing many Russian ex-pats who criticize Putin’s administration. Russia was also accused of poisoning the Ukrainian pro-west candidate in the Ukrainian elections, almost killing him, but he survived and went on to win the election.

BY PETER SELF
Singapore