Thursday, December 1, 2016

Crimean missile crisis

Vladyslav Shvets


This week we have witnessed another round of escalation of the already strained Ukrainian-Russian relations. In response to the announcement by the Ukrainian military to conduct missile tests near the Crimean peninsula, Russia threatened to hit Ukraine with missiles instead.


The reason for a new escalation of Ukrainian-Russian relations were the plans of the Ukrainian military to hold December 1-2, 2016 test missile launches over the Black Sea. But these actions (quite normal for any state conducting military exercises on its own territory), for some reason, made the Russians way overexcited. However, we shouldn’t really be looking for any logic in another wave of aggression on the part of the state, which has shamelessly stolen part of Ukraine’s territory, maintaining a military conflict beyond its own borders. 


Returning to the "missile scandal", we should note that over the last year, Ukraine has moved forward significantly with its "missile shield" program and implemented a series of successful tests of new missiles.

In August, a new "Olkha" multiple rocket launcher was tested, while in November reports came on the preparation of test launches of a new "Hrom" missile, which was announced to be held in December 2016.


According to Ukraine’s top officials, the weapon should become a deterrent to the aggressive policy of Russia, and, if necessary, could be used for a pre-emptive strike on enemy territory.




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