but quote, they usually have a good reason for its, it makes sense for the royal navy to conduct exercise in that area of the atlantic because that's on their doorstep. it doesn't make practical sense for the russians to be there, said one day naval service source. if the russian military exercises are linked to an invasion of ukraine, they may serve one of several purposes, according to military planners. one is psychological, to remind nato of the russian navies freedom of movement, which may make nato members think twice about launching retaliatory military actions. another possibility is strategic. if the situation in ukraine to deteriorate significantly, one of the first priorities of nato would likely be to boxing as much of the russian fleet as possible into the reports. it is in russia's interest to disperse's ships in international waters ahead of such eventuality. for ireland, the worst-case scenario is that russia is positioning itself to disable the subsidy infrastructure running along the southern coast and connecting europe and north america.