Can someone please tell me why the Russians are taunting the British by flying bomber/reconnaissance planes to the border of British airspace?
With relations between Russia and Britain deteriorating, the number of incidents in which Russia’s submarines have been found close to British shores or in contact with Royal Navy warships has also risen, reports said yesterday. London’s Daily Telegraph said there was a suggestion Russia could be testing the West’s air detection systems and response times.
Diplomatic tensions between London and Moscow — already stretched by the murder in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko — intensified as the Bear bombers headed towards Britain. It was the first time Russian bombers had threatened to penetrate British airspace since President Vladimir Putin indicated, with no little chutzpah, that he had ordered his bomber force to resume long-range patrols around the world.
More information:
- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22289791-31477,00.html
- http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1280809,00.html
John, the simple answer to why Russia does these things is: because they can.
I think it’s more about who their new friends are. The polarization between US and other countries of power is slowly deteriorating as we outsource production to countries like India and China. Heck, most families get everything from their local walmart, which is filled by Chinese products.
With the dollar dropping and becoming devalued, we have to be careful because all of a sudden others are walking quietly with big sticks now. That said, I’m curious to see what will come of this and what justification will be given – Russia really isn’t in a place to be poking people with their stick right now..
Russia needs to read up on their history. Do they enjoy the state that they existed in all of these years since their last great fall?