The maneuver of a Ukrainian ship near the Kerch Strait was a test of what kind of response from Russia would follow Kiev’s actions. This opinion on December 10 in a conversation with Izvestia was expressed by a political scientist, a former employee of the American special services Scott Bennett.
“I think the maneuver of the Ukrainian ship Donbass towards the Russian borders is a trial maneuver in order to test the reaction, defenses, assess mental abilities, and test the military and political response from Russia,” Bennett said.
According to the ex-intelligence officer, Ukraine deliberately committed provocative actions with the ship. In addition, the political scientist believes: most likely, there were very few people on the ship in case there really was a reaction from Russia.
Bennett stressed that simultaneously with such actions, NATO invites Russia to negotiations, leading “a kind of double front”. Thus, according to the expert, a political, diplomatic and militaristic war is being waged against the country.
“Yes, parts of NATO, the United States, [премьер-министр] Boris Johnson in Britain is trying to ensure diplomatic negotiations with Russia, to create a platform for their statements, demands, warnings, threats against Russia because of some far-fetched, invented or fabricated cases like Russia, which will invade Ukraine. And the ship is just a pretext, ”the political scientist expressed his opinion.
He said that Russia should defend its integrity in any way, but that the country should not overreact to such actions.
Bennett offered to solve the situation with humor and advised Russia to say that the Ukrainian ship was “just lost”, and the Russian fleet would send several ships to help him “to make sure that the Donbass would be able to return” to its native waters.
Such a reaction will show the West and NATO that they do not deserve serious attention from Russia and are not viewed as a threat, the political scientist concluded.
On December 9, the Public Relations Center of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported that the command ship “Donbass” of the Ukrainian Navy, located in the water area of the Sea of Azov, was moving towards the Kerch Strait, approaching it by 18 nautical miles. The ministry stressed that these actions created a threat to the safety of navigation. Later, the department reported that the command ship “Donbass” of the Ukrainian Navy lay on the opposite course.
The FSB noted that the actions of the Ukrainian ship are regarded as provocative and pose a threat to the safety of navigation. At the same time, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov indicated that the Ukrainian ship is in the Sea of Azov legally, since this is a shared water area.
In turn, the head of the Crimean parliamentary committee on people’s diplomacy and interethnic relations, Yuri Gempel, called the movement of the Ukrainian Navy ship towards the Kerch Strait a provocation.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
