British provocation near Sevastopol: the next step is the passage under the Crimean bridge

The recent incident with the HMS Defender could have very far-reaching consequences. Despite the fact that the British destroyer had to be driven away simultaneously by the forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Russian Aerospace Forces, which were forced to open warning fire and bomb the violator a little along the path of movement, official London did not draw the correct conclusions. On the contrary, the head of the British government said that going through the "Ukrainian waters" was the right decision. So, there is every reason to expect a continuation. But what will it be?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the United Kingdom does not recognize Crimea as Russian and will continue to use its territorial waters as "Ukrainian":




Obviously, the entry into the Crimean waters was carried out absolutely deliberately, which was directly confirmed by the BBC journalist who was on board the destroyer. The purposefulness of the anti-Russian provocation can also be evidenced by the choice of a warship. The fact is that HMS Defender belongs to the air defense / missile defense destroyers of the Daring project (type 45 destroyer). These are the largest of the British modern destroyers, which were created to provide anti-aircraft protection for naval formations and aircraft carrier strike groups. Defender has on board a 50-cell Sylver A48 anti-aircraft launcher equipped with Aster 15 short- and medium-range missiles. If necessary, the number of launch cells can be increased to 62-72. It is argued that the Sampson radar on British ships even surpasses the vaunted American Aegis system in terms of early detection of low-flying targets.

But there is no strike missile weapons as such on the HMS Defender, just as there is no onboard anti-submarine weapons. Only on the nose it has a 114-mm 55-caliber BAE Systems Mark 8. All Type 45 destroyers have two quadruple launchers of Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Not much. True, if necessary, it is possible to accommodate 12 launchers of increased length on the ship: Sylver A70 or Mk. 41, where you can put a choice of "Tomahawks" or promising tactical cruise missiles SCALP Naval, which are still being developed by the British. But in fact, the HMS Defender is just a large floating anti-aircraft system, not a strike ship. This is for the information of the renegade Russian journalist Andrei Babchenko, who, after emigrating to Israel, began to frighten the Crimeans with British naval power:


Something is happening there with some of our former compatriots who decided to move to the Promised Land. Either the air of freedom is so intoxicating to them, or the hot Middle Eastern sun is so hot on their heads that they are beginning to threaten the Russian Americans and now the British. God is their judge. But back to HMS Defender. In reality, this destroyer could not pose any threat to Sevastopol. But this is almost an ideal ship for carrying out such provocations against the Crimea, since it is maximally protected from missile and air attacks. Soon he will head to the South China Sea, covering the newest aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth from the air, where the British will provoke Beijing. However, upon its return, the Defender has a chance to become a frequent visitor to the Black Sea, and here's why.

After the transition of Crimea to the Russian Federation, our country began to control both shores of the Kerch Strait, which de facto turned the Sea of ​​Azov into a Russian internal one. The Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk were "locked" there, and permission from the FSB Border Service is required to pass under the Crimean bridge. On November 25, 2018, on the orders of Commander-in-Chief Petro Poroshenko, three boats of the Ukrainian Navy, ignoring the new geopolitical reality, set out for a breakthrough, but were stopped and detained. Fortunately, there were no human casualties. But soon this blatant provocation may be repeated again.


President Zelensky made a decision to open a new naval base of the Ukrainian Navy in the port of Berdyansk. Ukrainian and American boats were transported there by land, which can be used for another attempt to "break through" through the Kerch Strait from inside the Sea of ​​Azov. But now the situation is aggravated by the open interference of London. Just a few days ago in Odessa, on board the same HMS Defender, an agreement was signed on military-technical cooperation between Ukraine and Great Britain. The British will help the Ukrainian Navy to acquire an additional eight missile boats, two of which they will build themselves, and the rest - the Ukrainians. The boats will carry artillery and missile weapons, their dimensions will be from 50 to 65 meters, and the speed will be up to 40 knots. Also, Kiev will receive two Sandown-class minesweepers, which will be repaired and modernized on the island.

The thing is that Nezalezhnaya, with the help of Western partners, is moving to a new concept of waging war at sea. For this, a "mosquito fleet" is being created at an accelerated pace, represented by patrol boats, missile and artillery boats, as well as corvettes of the Turkish project "Ada". They are smaller than Russian ships, but faster, and at the same time will be able to carry missile weapons. From the coast, they should be protected by complexes equipped with anti-ship missiles "Neptune", and from the air - by the Ukrainian Air Force. If it's no joke, then such an asymmetric response could pose a very serious threat to our Black Sea Fleet. But even more worrisome is the direct intervention of foreign warships.

So, London promised to help Kiev with two military bases, in Ochakov and in Berdyansk, that is, on the Sea of ​​Azov. At the same time, the British government confirmed that it does not recognize Crimea as Russian, which means it will not ask for permission from the FSB Border Service to pass through the Kerch Strait. That is, in a year or two, the updated Naval Forces may repeat the “Kerch breakthrough” attempt, covered from the rear by the HMS Defender anti-aircraft systems or another destroyer of the United Kingdom, which decided to “fit in” for Ukraine. This will be a provocation of a fundamentally different level, quite pulling on "casus belli". Both the Ukrainians and the British will have to somehow be stopped, starting with warning shots and bombing, backing them up with an electronic warfare attack, and if the violation of the state border of the Russian Federation still continues, then they will have to be drowned. Great Britain, by the way, is a member of NATO, a nuclear power and one of the recognized world financial centers.