Impact swim comes

On October 20, the North Sea was slightly stormy: Britain, like Norway the day before, sent its warships towards the Russian naval group, which was heading into the Mediterranean Sea past their shores

The detachment of ships of the Northern Fleet consists of the heavy nuclear cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, large anti-submarine ships Vice-Admiral Kulakov and Severomorsk, as well as support vessels. According to media reports, two corvettes of the Baltic Fleet will join the detachment in the Atlantic - "Smart" and "Resistant". Also, the group will most likely include the frigate Admiral Essen, which is now in the Malta region. And if we take into account that today the Mediterranean squadron of the Russian Navy already has three small missile ships of the Black Sea Fleet - Serpukhov, Zeleny Dol and Mirage, then we can state with confidence: to carry out the operation, Moscow mobilized the entire stationed in the European theater ship composition, which is still able to swim to the Mediterranean Sea.

This military activity has caused considerable concern in the North Atlantic Alliance. An unnamed senior NATO diplomat told Reuters that Russia's deployment of ships is the largest since the Cold War. They were especially worried in Great Britain, past the coast of which a detachment of the Russian Navy passed. The warships of Her Majesty's Fleet were sent to track him, which accompanied the group during the passage along the English Channel.

NATO's concern is understandable. At first glance, the tasks of the squadron are obvious: to provide support to Assad's troops in Syria, who are going to take Aleppo. In March, the Kremlin more than halved the air grouping at its Khmeimim base, counting on the truce that had begun then. The operation was declared successfully completed, and its participants were solemnly awarded. However, the fighting soon continued, and the aircraft remaining at the base clearly could not cope with the load. It was already inconvenient to return the fighters and bombers withdrawn with such fanfare. The only Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, was sent to the coast of Syria, which in recent years has spent much more time in repair docks than at sea. On his air group, consisting of three dozen aircraft, and will fall, apparently, the main burden of air strikes on the opposition.

At the same time, only Admiral Kuznetsov fighters and two small missile ships armed with Caliber cruise missiles have the ability to attack targets on land. Most of the group's ships, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, which is called the "aircraft carrier killer", are designed exclusively for war at sea. Modern Russia inherited its entire fleet from the USSR. And the Soviet surface ships had one main task - to protect and support the actions of submarine missile carriers. It was necessary to ensure that at the right time they would launch missiles at the United States and not be destroyed before that.

So, most likely, both the Peter the Great and the large anti-submarine ships were sent to the coast of Syria solely to display the flag. However, this does not negate the fact that a grouping is concentrated there, the main task of which (based on its combat capabilities) is to counter the US 6th Fleet. By the way, "Peter the Great" in company with "Admiral Kuznetsov" were in the Mediterranean Sea just at the time of the annexation of Crimea. And now the NATO admirals are scratching their heads: what else could the Kremlin have in mind. In this situation, they will be doomed to take countermeasures. Thus, confrontation at sea grows out of empty ambition, out of the desire to take our only aircraft carrier across the English Channel.

"PETER THE GREAT" IN COMPANY WITH "ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV" WAS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA JUST AT THE TIME OF THE ACCESSION OF THE CRIMEA. AND NOW THE NATO ADMIRALS ARE BREAKING THE HEAD: WHAT ELSE COULD THE KREMLIN HAVE THOUGHT