With the 2016 presidential election just days away, and relations between the U.S. and Russia their most tense since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to engage in a new and even more provocative round of saber rattling.
According to the United Kingdom’s Independent newspaper, Russia’s flagship aircraft carrier and a fleet of 10 ships are steaming through the English Channel. British ships have been sent to the area to monitor the Russians, further increasing tensions and the brinksmanship nature of the situation.
The nuclear-powered Admiral Kuznetzov is one of seven vessels photographed off the Norwegian coastline on Monday en-route to the eastern Mediterranean, with the most likely passage taking them through the North Sea, Dover Strait and English Channel before heading south.
The Admiral Kuznetzov is loaded with fighter jets, reconnaissance and combat helicopters and cruise missiles to be used to bolster Russia’s bombing campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad …
The Admiral Kuznetsov is escorted by the Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) battlecruiser, the Vice Admiral Kulakov destroyer, Severomorsk destroyers and several supply ships—all part of the Northern Fleet—the Russian defense ministry said.
Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta newsapaper claimed the Russian naval force is the most powerful to sail in northern Europe in two years.
