American plans were to fly the str-spangled banner in Crimea

How Russia Ruined American Plans in Crimea

Russ Fort,

March 19, 2016

TV Zvezda
Translated by Kristina Kharlova

Sanctions as revenge for Crimea: American plans that were ruined  2 years ago

Crimea is compared with an aircraft carrier for a reason — those controlling the peninsula can control the territory of all the countries of the Black sea basin. Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia. Well, Russia now itself controls all of this space. However, if two years ago, thanks to popular referendum, Crimea did not return to the Russian shores, today it could fly the star-spangled banners.

All the financing of Maidan in Ukraine was driven by one particular goal, for which the U.S. State Department spared neither suitcases with dollars, nor cookies from Mrs. Nuland - Crimea. American missile defense system in Crimea would close the entire South and South-West Russia from the possibility of using ballistic missiles that serve as a deterrent to so-called American preventive nuclear strike. No coincidence that the much-touted project of European missile defense, which badly battered the nerves of our politicians and military, has flopped after the restoration of status quo in Crimea.

Americans have coveted the Crimea. Perhaps not as the 53rd state of the USA, but as a military base with broad capabilities - for sure. And would pay up the rapidly impoverished Kiev for the next hundred years enough to silence the government and Crimean Tatar Majlis, and to restrain the appetites of Turkey for the peninsula.

On February 13, 2014, when tires and Berkut troops were burning on Maidan, a U.S. Navy squadron led by an aircraft carrier "George Bush", carrying 90 aircraft and helicopters on board, escorted by 16 warships and three nuclear submarines left Norfolk for the Aegean sea. Ten days later, when President Yanukovych was deposed of power in Kiev, the squadron went through the Bosphorus into the Black sea.



Its further course lay to the shores of Crimea, where American sailors had hoped to see along the walls of the Russian Black sea fleet base the star-spangled banners and young Crimean girls wearing vyshivanki, short skirts greeting them with bread and salt. But Americans never saw the Crimean shores — they were not welcomed. "Polite people" already appeared in Crimea, and the Russian navy was conducting exercises nearby.

The American squadron turned around and moored off the coast of Turkey in anticipation. Destroyer "Donald Cook" was sent out for reconnaissance, which at first cheerfully moved in the direction of Crimea. That's when already widely known incident with the Russian Su-24 bomber had taken place - more than ten times it simulated attack on the American ship, but was invisible to its radar.



The plane was observed visually, but it was invisible to radars, including missile launchers. The anti-radar system "Khibiny" made it invisible. Destroyer retreated to the Romanian port, and soon the whole American squadron turned for home — a victorious entrance into Sevastopol was cancelled.

"Americans prepared very seriously and thoroughly for their entrance into Crimea, - said a member of the Federation Council Committee on defense and security, Dmitry Sablin. - A year before the events on Maidan in Kiev, they made repair estimates of a number of buildings in Sevastopol and in Simferopol, where they planned to house the headquarters and intelligence units. Military airfields and garrisons, which then belonged to Ukraine, they considered as their own military installations and even sent instructions for their conversion to NATO standards. In the plans of the U.S. military April 2014 was the start time of upgrades in Crimea. It seemed to them that the issue has been settled. But the referendum had thrown off their plans, and on March 18, Crimea became Russian again, where the overseas guests were no longer welcome. Americans later themselves acknowledged that the Russians outplayed them on all counts. Well, and from helplessness imposed sanctions — as a revenge for Crimea".

Even Western experts, who could not be accused of friendliness to Russia, say that Americans planned to create a powerful military base in Crimea. And if you consider the fact that 2017 was the deadline for an agreement with Ukraine on the lease of the Russian fleet of Sevastopol as a naval base, the U.S. would have gained complete dominance in the Black sea. From the territory of Crimea Voronezh and Moscow can be easily targeted, and, if necessary, even ... Turkey.

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union Turkey once again began to consider Crimea as part of the Turkic world. Today Ankara openly supports the part of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, which organizes events for the blockade of Crimea, financing the armed formations on the territory of Kherson region who organize provocations on the Russian-Ukrainian border, -says the head of the Crimean research center of the Institute of Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Vasiliev. - But here Turkey, as a NATO country, has a conflict of interest with the "big brother" - the USA. Americans prefer to act independently in the Black sea and would unlikely let Turkey "steer" in Crimea, except on the conditions of confrontation with the Russian part of the population of the peninsula. It is possible that Ankara could even break relations with Washington, because it nourishes the sole claim to Crimea".

Russia is now actively equipping Crimea not only as a resort zone.  The Black sea fleet has been strengthened by twenty modern ships, including six submarines, a frigate (with more to come), a missile cruiser, small rocket ships. A large group of rapid response forces consisting of paratroopers and marines is based on the peninsula.



They are supported by air division of fighter aviation and air defense forces, consisting of new air defense systems S-400. Soon to come — ballistic missiles "Topol-M" and "YARS", which at best can be tracked by the Americans, but not destroyed. Missile complexes "Iskander-M" and "Bastion" simply will not allow the likely enemy to get closer to the territory of Crimea at a distance from 500 to 2000 kilometers.

"Naturally, we will never give up Crimea, despite all the threats and sanctions from the United States - said Dmitry Sablin. - In addition to patriotic rhetoric, which, of course, is not the last place, and you cannot throw away the words of the song about Sevastopol, which is considered the city of glory of Russian sailors, Crimea is a strategic location in military terms. If you take a historical analogy, it's like Stalingrad in 1942 — if the Soviet troops could not hold out on the Volga then, the Germans would break through to Baku, the Urals, India. And sanctions... Flies are annoying to a bear, but he just shrugs them off".

Author: Viktor Sokirko