Russian rustbucket
Chugging slowly past the White Cliffs of Dover, it’s Putin’s ...
Cutting through the English Channel, the looming bulk of the Russian navy’s flagship passes the White Cliffs of Dover.
Belching black smoke, the ageing aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov sailed menacingly close to Britain yesterday in a provocative manoeuvre.
the Soviet-era vessel, leading a flotilla of eight naval vessels, is on its way to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster the Syrian bombing campaign.
Equipped with missiles, anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes, the 55,000-ton carrier was escorted by the Royal navy’s type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and type 23 frigate HMS Richmond as it skirted uK territorial waters.
tensions between the uK and Russia are at breaking point after theresa May blasted Russian president Vladimir Putin for undermining the West’s efforts to bring peace to Syria.
She has condemned the Kremlin’s ‘sickening’ role in the bombardment of rebel-held Aleppo, which has left 2,700 people dead or injured, in support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Mrs May has urged Eu leaders to impose sanctions on Putin’s regime, including asset freezes and travel bans, amid fears some countries are dragging their feet. Yesterday she warned that Eu leaders had agreed to keep ‘all options’ open to curb Moscow’s behaviour. She said it was vital for the West to keep up pressure to completely halt the assault on Aleppo following Russia’s announcement of a pause in hostilities to allow people to flee.
Speaking at the European Council summit in Brussels, she said Eu leaders had discussed Russian involvement in Syria, adding: ‘We were very clear about the role of Russia, and very clear about the need for the Eu to give the strong statement that it has, and to consider – if the atrocities continue – all options.’
Last night Downing Street dismissed claims the uK was too ‘weak’ to see off a Russian threat.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the convoy was aimed at testing British capabilities and had been ‘marked every step of the way’ by the Royal navy. nato officials have said the Russian deployment is the largest of its kind since the Cold War and is designed to demonstrate Moscow’s military might.
But despite its formidable appearance, experts say the Admiral Kuznetsov is in ‘very poor material condition’. Russia’s only aircraft carrier has been blighted by years of technical problems and is always accompanied by a tug because it is so prone to breakdowns. Commissioned in 1981, it still carries Cold War era markings proclaiming: ‘Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet union Kuznetsov’
A Royal navy source said: ‘You only have to look at the smoke she’s belching out to see not all is well. We have had people on board Russian ships in the last ten years or so and ... the conditions inside are pretty manky.’