Pirates give Russia chance to flex muscles

Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 3:11 am

The rise in piracy off the coasts of Somalia is giving Russia a chance to flex its muscles, with plans to dispatch several warships to the region and even ex-KGB commandos volunteering their services.

The Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) is already patrolling the coastline, and there is talk of Russia reopening a Soviet-era naval base on an island belonging to Yemen in the Gulf of Aden just across from Somalia.

Russia’s increasingly active role against piracy in Somalia marks its “return to the ranks of world powers,” Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst and a member of parliament from the ruling United Russia party, said.

Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo was quoted by Interfax news agency today as saying that the navy would have either “one warship or a flotilla of warships” in the Horn of Africa region “on a regular basis”.

Nikolai Makarov, the head of Russia’s general staff, was quoted as saying that Moscow was preparing “a detailed plan for anti-pirate operations in the Gulf of Aden” with naval ships from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets.

During a visit to Yemen last month, Sergei Mironov, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, even said that Moscow was considering resuming a Soviet-era naval presence in the country.

The Pacific fleet of the Soviet navy maintained a naval base on Yemen’s Socotra Island, which lies off the Horn of Africa. The capture of a Saudi super tanker this week has cast an international spotlight on the piracy problem and redoubled efforts by international powers to combat it. Dozens of vessels have been hijacked so far this year.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Pirates give Russia chance to flex muscles

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