The Sword Project After the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered its third year, the situation began to change "uncontrollably". First, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, etc., signed bilateral agreements with Ukraine, stating that they would provide security protection to Ukraine; After that, France's Macron suggested that "in order to prevent Russia from winning, Western countries should send troops to Ukraine", although most NATO countries were against it, but US Defense Secretary Austin said, "If Ukraine fails, I really think NATO will go head-to-head with Russia". Under the background of such a "subtle" atmosphere,The "cat-and-mouse game" between Russia and NATO has also quietly begun.
The first message is,On March 1, two Russian military aircraft appeared near Latvia's territorial waters, causing German fighter jets to take off urgently。It is alleged that the two Russian military planes are the Il-20 reconnaissance plane and the rare Il-22M air command plane. At present, the airspace of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, three small NATO countries around the "Baltic Sea," is being protected with the assistance of the 74th Tactical Wing of the Luftwaffe.
If the above actions show Russia's "initiative", then the second message shows NATO's active provocation. On the evening of 2 March, the Russian air defense system shot down a number of air targets over the Gulf of Finland, and the mayor of St. Petersburg, Russia, disclosed that the air defense system in the St. Petersburg and Leningrad regions is currently in a state of combat readiness. And there is a background to the occurrence of this incident that cannot be ignored - at present, NATO is holding the "largest in history" joint military exercises around the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Finland is the sea passage from the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg.
That is to say,Between Russia and NATO, "you come and go", there is an actual "see-saw" actionFinish. In this regard, we will briefly talk about two topics.
First, because of the situation in Ukraine, the latest wrestling between Russia and NATO is far more than the above two.
On March 1, after France** said that "sending troops to Ukraine is not ruled out", there was strong opposition in France, and the people held a large-scale rally, not only tearing up the EU and NATO flags, but also saying that "we will not die for Ukraine and let Macron fight the war himself". It is worth noting that although German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also clearly opposes "sending troops", butRussian intelligence agencies have confirmed that there are senior German ** but privately discussing how to "more cleverly" provide Ukraine with long-range ** to attack the Crimean bridge and ammunition depots.
Earlier, Scholz had publicly confirmed,The British are already in Ukraine, helping to launch the "Storm Shadow" cruise missile to attack Russian targets。This also shows that the West's opposition to sending troops to Ukraine may only be "superficial work", and behind the scenes, they have already made various moves.
On March 3, there was a violent ** incident in the southeast of the Crimean peninsula, and Russia closed the Crimean bridge, which crosses the Kerch Strait and plays an important role in transportation, because the bridge is only 110 kilometers away from the ** point. After that, the Ministry of Defense said to the outside worldRussian air defense forces managed to thwart a massive attack on Crimea by Ukrainian drones, shooting down all 38 drones launched on the Crimean peninsula
Previously, U.S. Zelensky had said that he "wanted to see the sea in Crimea", hinting that he wanted to take back Crimea. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine not only attacked Crimea, but also repeatedly attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet deployed locally.
Russia's response was also very tough. On March 2, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a ** for operations on the Kupyansk front. It shows that Russian snipers use sniper rifles equipped with high-powered thermal imaging sights to snipe Ukrainian soldiers from a distance of 1,000 meters. If you dare to provoke, I will let you lose even more badly on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Second, between Russia and NATO, who is the mouse and who is the cat?
In terms of conventional military strength, although Russia is a military power, it also has a very strong potential to deal with war, but after all, "two fists are difficult to defeat with four hands," and NATO not only has 31 members, but also a "giant" like the United States, which should be in an advantageous situation in terms of the number of fighters and warships and missile strike capabilities. Therefore, Russia is undoubtedly the weaker party.
In terms of the size of its nuclear arsenal, Russia is the largest in the world, with 5,977 nuclear warheads, while among NATO countries, the United States has 5,428, plus France 290 and Britain 225, a total of 5,943. That is, in terms of the size of its nuclear arsenal, Russia has already surpassed NATO combined. Although it is not necessarily who has more nuclear warheads, who has the right to speak, butIn terms of nuclear vehicles, Russia also has the "Sarmat", which is known as the "world's most powerful" intercontinental missile, which can carry 15 nuclear warheads, and one "Sarmat" has a TNT yield of 10 million tons, which is enough to destroy 10 cities
Geographically, NATO's European region can be described as "very crowded", and Russia throws a nuclear bomb at random, and the "strike effect" is not much worse. But relatively speaking, Russia is vast and sparsely populated, and has huge strategic indulgence. Not only that, Russia is not afraid of "all the same", but NATO countries do not. Therefore, when it comes to a nuclear war, NATO will be the weaker side.
So,Who is the "mouse" and who is the "cat"? These two roles will likely rotate between NATO and Russia, because "each has its own advantages". Of course, more consideration of the wisdom and courage of both sides also includes: how to use the power they have reasonably? When is the right time to use it?
Before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, although Russia had the strength, it still made many warnings about NATO's "eastward expansion", and it was personally proposed by Putin that NATO had "stepped on the red line" before starting the "military operation against Ukraine". Now, it seems that Russia and NATO have entered such a "sensitive stage" againPutin has already stated that "we have the ** to strike at Western targets."；Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian FederationMedvedev also warned that in the event of a war with NATO, Russia could only respond with nuclear **；Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the United Kingdom, a NATO country, has actually entered the war. For NATO, perhaps, it is really worth beware.