Russia held joint naval exercises with Venezuela late last year to demonstrate its growing strategic reach and political clout, particularly in Latin America, which many consider the traditional U.S. sphere of influence.Provocative? Yes. But Washington and Moscow have restrained the verbal squabbling. Many observers take that as a sign that both sides hope for improved bilateral relations under the new Obama administration.
Crimea: The Expanding Military Capabilities of Russia’s Area Denial Zone in the Black Sea
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 18 Issue: 67
Russian Leer-3 Electronic Warfare Station in Donbass (Source: Euromaidan)
Two important and connected developments in the second half of April military exercises in Crimea (RIA Novosti, April 22) and the wider growing tensions with Ukraine cogently reiterated the military-political importance to Russia of this illegally annexed peninsula. Since 2014, Moscow has been heavily investing in building up its military posture there. And at the moment, Moscow’s main objective along this vein for Crimea is to upgrade local anti-missile and anti-aircraft capabilities and anti-drone operations in particular in order to complete the formation of an area-denial zone centered on this strategically positioned region.