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photo by defencenet |
In a statement to defencenet a leading Russian defense ministry official in Moscow noted that "Greece has certain rights in the region and islands that constitute these rights," meaning of course Mesgisti
At the moment, the Russian fleet is spread across the eastern Mediterranean, from the Greek-Egyptian FIR boundary all the way to the coast of Lebanon, while the Admiral Kuznetsov is alone, in the coordinates we described with an accompanying submarine for security purposes.
Of course there is another reason why the Russian aircraft carrier chose to lower its anchor in this specific area since it sits on the so-called "Valley of Herodotus', characterized as the largest deposits of hydrocarbons in world oil reserves and natural gas. In fact the deposit is said to be so immense that it can only be compared with similar deposits found in the North Sea -discovered in the early 70s!-
Russia, just like Israel, requested to proceed with blind drilling on very favorable terms for Greece but received a negative response by the Greek government.
This move by Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov (even though it is taking part in military exercisers in the wider region) which set out alone last night from the coast of Syria, to the coast of Cyprus only to arrive at this particular point (or the limits set by Kastelorizo and adjacent to the Greek EEZ) is definitely a projection of power and should not be taken by lightly...