Over the past 18 months the Russian Federation has transferred additional troops, military planes and weapons to the occupied Crimea. The aforementioned is reported by the American media agency Defense One. The publication refers to US intelligence reports which emphasize that there are 30 thousand of active Russian military personnel in Crimea at the moment. Moreover, Russian military command plans to send another 13 thousand of military personnel to the peninsula over the course of the next 4 years. In addition, it is reported that now 81 Russian military helicopters and aircraft are stationed on the peninsula.
"The photographs taken from January 2018 to April 2019 by a private satellite survey company Planet Labs and provided by Defense One depict five S-400 batteries, five S-300 air defense systems and four fighter jets, as well as other military facilities with the Soviet era military objects included", – the report says.
According to observers, such course of events most likely mean that Moscow has no plans to return the previously annexed in 2014 Ukrainian territory.
"Russia is interested in being able to exercise greater control over the Black Sea, which provides them with an opportunity to plan their activities beyond their closest immediate surroundings" , – said Sarah Bidgood, director of the Non-Proliferation Program in Eurasia.
The sources underlined that the current buildup of military forces in Crimea would be able to provide Moscow with a greater control over the Black Sea, especially considering the fact that additional Russian combat aircraft and ships are located closer to the Middle East.
The publication refers to US intelligence reports which emphasize that there are 30 thousand of active Russian military personnel in Crimea at the moment. Moreover, Russian military command plans to send another 13 thousand of military personnel to the peninsula over the course of the next 4 years. In addition, it is reported that now 81 Russian military helicopters and aircraft are stationed on the peninsula. It is also noted that the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation recently received ten ships capable of launching long-range missiles "Caliber", which according to one of the contributors of the magazine, will allow the Black Sea Fleet to strike the targets outside the Black Sea basin, particularly in Southern Europe and Syria, without even leaving Sevastopol.
Earlier, NATO in its statement on Crimea condemned the continued large-scale build-up of Russia's military power in Crimea and expressed its concern about the efforts and recently announced plans of Russia to further build up military power in the Black Sea region.