Russians sent submarines to the Adriatic Sea; "If they only fire one missile..."
Security expert Prof. Gordan Akrap, commenting on the movement of Russian ships in the Adriatic, says that the whole action should not be taken so seriously.
Source: Jutarnji list
Just to recall, Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" announced that Russian warships tried to block the exit of the American aircraft carrier "Harry Truman" from the Adriatic Sea. They were allegedly at the height of Ancona, and Akrap points out that the Russian frigate "Admiral Grigorovic" was also at the height of Split, seen from the Croatian coast.
However, he said that the action should not be taken so seriously.
"This is the usual activity of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, regardless of whether they are air or naval forces, which are trying to come into contact with NATO forces in order to test the organization, effectiveness, mobility and system of command, control and leadership of the NATO alliance and countries, members of the NATO alliance in crises," said Akrap.
He added that we often see such cases in the Baltic region, that is, the North Sea, and Norway, and now we are also seeing it in the Adriatic. He also pointed out that the sea is very well protected - it is protected by Croatia, partly by Albania and Italy.
"There are also three large naval bases in that area that are used by the Italian armed forces, but also by the forces of the NATO alliance," Akrap said. Moreover, the Russians have already taken a naval air base in Syria and made it their base.
He added that in the latest Russian strategy, President Vladimir Putin wrote that the entire Mediterranean, not just the east, is the theater of their operations.
According to him, in addition to four ships, several submarines also entered the Adriatic Sea, but they were followed from beginning to end and immediately returned.
"There were no threats to the member countries of the NATO alliance, nor to the armed forces," Akrap said. On the other hand, military analyst Ivica Mandić is not surprised by the arrival of Russian forces on the Adriatic Sea.
"Nothing particularly unusual for warships to come and watch the exercises of the other side, this is in one way provocative in the sense of coming so close, but it is not a threat, especially to the carrier strike group," said Mandic.
"I think this is a distraction from something important that is happening on the ground in Ukraine," he noted.
He calls the move of the Russians in the Adriatic a senseless operation.
"If those ships were to fire any kind of missile, they would all be sunk at that moment. You are in a narrow sea called the Adriatic and you are simply under attack from the NATO member countries that go out to the Adriatic Sea, you are in a sandwich," Mandić said for Daily News of Nova TV, transmitted by Jutarnji list. The Croatian Ministry of Defense issued a statement, which reads:
"The command of the Croatian Navy is aware of the presence, that is, of the sailing of ships of the Russian Federation in the Adriatic Sea. Given that no ships were observed entering the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia, there was no reason to react."
