Russia is mobilising troops to Mediterranean: Is it a deterrence to US, NATO’s cohesion?

As tensions simmer on the Kyiv-Moscow frontier, Russia’s Northern Fleet war vessels have entered the Mediterranean Sea via Gibraltar, to stage the so-called naval drills. Russia’s Defence Ministry says that the naval drills will be held through the end of February and next month.

As Russia announced a partial troop drawdown, stating that some of the combat forces have been ordered to return to their defence bases after the war exercises with neighbouring ally Belarus, another key military development, in parallel, has been unfolding from Pacific to Atlantic as Kremlin’s troop movement is being scrutinised closely via the satellite imageries.

(In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, MiG-31 fighter of the Russian air force carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile is parked at the Hemeimeem air-base; Image: AP)

Russia's 'geopolitical exposition of power status,' US naval presence 'largest since 2018'

Russia’s cruiser Marshal Ustinov, the frigate Admiral Kasatonov and the destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov have swiftly entered the Mediterranean Sea. They will then sail into the Black Sea to hold military drills with the Pacific Sea fleet. As Russia displays military assertiveness in the Eastern Mediterranean, its geopolitical exposition of power status appears to be a part of its broader strategy for undermining the cohesion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), according to geopolitical think tanks. 

(A Tu-22M3 bomber of the Russian air forces lands at the Hemeimeem air-base; Image: AP)

Russian forces have entered the Mediterranean region to assert military strength in a broader standoff with the West in the Atlantic, the Black Sea, and regions stretching from North Africa to the Arctic, to acquire leverage over transatlantic nations, and crush the United States and Alliance’s ability to operate as ‘Mediterranean actors’ and dominate the region. As the Ukraine-Russia border standoff intensifies, Russia has pulled up stakes with gargantuan military showdown and rivalries in the Mediterranean, a region dominated by the United States troops, and has added complications to NATO’s military deployments and operations.

(Russian Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (centre), speaks to an officer near a MiG-31 fighter of the Russian air force carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile; Image: AP)

(Russian Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) speaks to a group of hight rang officers as a Tu-22M3 bomber of the Russian air forces; Image: AP)

On February 14, the US kick-started a massive Naval buildup in the Mediterranean Sea, reported as the largest seen since 2018. While the Pentagon official at a White House presser insisted that the Naval warship movements were ‘unrelated’ to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, USNI estimated that assembly of United States vessels was in 6th Fleet was “the largest gathering of US Navy ships ever witnessed in the region.” 

Washington has mobilised at least four guided-missile destroyers armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles with in-theater combatant commanders that include Norfolk-based USS Gonzalez, USS Mitscher and Mayport, Florida-based USS Donald Cook, and USS The Sullivans in the Mediterranean to the US 6th Fleet area of operations to support NATO allied forces. 

US Navy P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft nearly “collided” with the Russian Su-35 jet fighters as they made ‘extremely close’ encounters over the Mediterranean Sea this past weekend. Pentagon officials, in a statement, derided Russian military aircrafts’ dangerous manoeuvres as "unsafe and unprofessional.”

(In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, a Tu-22M3 bomber of the Russian air force is seen from the cockpit of another such plane during a training flight; Image: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Mike Kafka, said that Pentagon registered a strong objection to the “unprofessional intercepts” by Russian military aircrafts “(We) made our concerns known to Russian officials through diplomatic channels,” he informed, not divulging the precise location of the encounters over the Mediterranean. The Russian fighter jets came “within 5 feet of each other on one occasion,” WSJ first reported, citing the military sources. 

“No one was hurt,” Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Mike Kafka, told a briefing later. “Interactions such as these could result in miscalculations and mistakes that lead to more dangerous outcomes,” he asserted.

“The US will continue to operate safely, professionally, and consistent with international law in international waters and airspace. We expect Russia to do the same,” Kafka added.

(The view as Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, top US commander for the Middle East, watches from the bridge as an F/A 18 fighter jet lands on the USS Harry S. Truman; Image: AP)

The former commander of US Army forces in Europe, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, shockingly revealed to the newspaper: “The Russians encourage their pilots to do this because they know our default setting is to be professional and to be disciplined. They are trying to re-establish where the fence lines are.” The incident occurred as US  President Joe Biden warned that more than 150,000 Russian forces are now “encircling” Ukrainian territory, as over 130,000 troops have surrounded Kyiv on three sides. 

Putin 'can pull the trigger'

While Russia claimed that it initiated the partial withdrawal of combat forces, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that there is no significant troop pullback happening on part of Russia. “On the contrary, we continue to see forces, especially forces in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine, continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border,” he said in televised remarks. 

“He (Putin) can pull the trigger — he could pull it today,” warned Blinken. “He could pull it tomorrow. He could pull it next week. The forces are there if he wants to renew aggression against Ukraine.”

Russia’s military assertions in the southern flank of the Mediterranean appear to be a wider part of its defence strategy against the European theatre, as has been witnessed since the end of the Cold War. Russian troops, diverted to the Mediterranean for military drills after the war games with Belarus portray a defensive regional posture against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As Russia brought troops, and combat weaponry on the frontlines, NATO and the United States Armed forces kick-started a 12-day maritime exercise in the Mediterranean Sea known as "Neptune Strike '22" that ended on February 4. 

(The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman passes Fort Monroe as it transits the Chesapeake Bay on its way into dock in Norfolk, Va. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group to stay in the Mediterranean Sea region rather than move on to the Middle East, amid worries about the buildup of thousands of Russian troops near the Ukraine border; Image: AP)

According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the bilateral defence exercise demonstrated NATO's maritime capabilities in the region. USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier, deployed to the region in December sailed to conduct naval drills with NATO instead of making its way to the Middle East. At the time, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had asserted that NATO-US Mediterranean drills were conducted to "reassure" Europeans’ regional security as tensions mounted with Russia. The remarks had come shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had held talks with his Russian counterpart, Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in a bid to de-escalate tensions but had no diplomatic outcome. 

Later, Russia announced that it will demonstrate its military might and naval capabilities in the Mediterranean Sea for at least two months, January and February. The military drills, said the Russian defence ministry, will stretch across the Atlantic, the Arctic, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean Sea, and will involve over 140 warships and more than 10,000 Russian military forces.

Russia plants 'new challenges for NATO and the EU' in the Mediterranean 

It appears that Moscow’s authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin intends to install new challenges for NATO and the EU partners not only in Mediterranean Basin, but also in the Black Sea, Western Europe, and Africa by asserting his defensive posture. Russia’s military enhancement on various fronts only adds to the ambiguity of its intent for the US, UK, and NATO Alliance, as they each remain sceptical about Russian leader Putin’s claims: “We do not want a war.” 

As bilateral tensions between Kyiv and Moscow soared, NATO alliance forces were put on standby, and allies sent additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe in deterrence to Russia. Denmark has dispatched a frigate to the Baltic Sea and has deployed its F-16 fighter jets in Lithuania under NATO’s long-standing air-policing mission. Spain has sent naval warships to be deployed alongside NATO naval forces and announced fighter jets deployment in Bulgaria. France has dispatched combat troops to Romania under NATO command. Netherlands dispatched F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria, war vessels and land-based units were on standby for NATO’s Response Force. 

At the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defense at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, UK’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that HMS Trent – a UK Warship – has begun conducting patrols in the Eastern Mediterranean alongside NATO Allies from Canada, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. The British Defence Minister asserted that he is sending HMS Diamond to the Mediterranean in the coming days to join NATO allies. He held talks with key Mediterranean nations that are regional players including the Quad, Turkey, Canada, and Italy.

“Alongside NATO Allies, we (UK) is deploying troops and assets on land, sea, and air to bolster European defences in response to the build-up of Russian military forces on the border of Ukraine,” he said, as shortly UK warships will enter the Mediterranean sea, conducting drills as Russia asserts dominance in the region, and on the global stage.