Russia Sends Ships On Exercises In U.S. 'Backyard'

Russian Navy Ships

From Reuters:

MOSCOW, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Russian warships set sail on Monday for manoeuvres in the Caribbean area calculated to demonstrate to the United States Moscow's return as a global power on the military and political stage.

The exercises, drawing on a strong alliance with Venezuela's anti-American President Hugo Chavez, will be closely watched by Western navies as the first such projection of Russian power close to U.S. shores since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said the nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser Peter the Great and antisubmarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko left their base near Murmansk with two support ships for the 15,000 mile passage to Venezuela.

Washington denounced Moscow for its crushing of pro-Western Georgia in a brief conflict last month over two rebel provinces. Russia then expressed anger over the appearance of U.S. warships in the Black Sea region -- which it considers its sphere of influence -- to deliver aid to Georgia.

Russia's cultivation of leftist Chavez and renewed interest in Cuba and ports of call in the Middle East bear unmistakable echoes of the Cold War, when two superpowers vied for influence.

Read more ....

My Comment:The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!