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What a second S-400 battalion meant for Crimea
Summary
A retrospective on the Russian air-defence deployment reported in occupied Crimea in mid-January 2018.
What did it mean when Russia added a second S-400 anti-air missile battalion in Crimea? Looking back at 16 January 2018, the deployment had been reported three days earlier, on 13 January 2018, and it deepened Russia's military presence on the peninsula it had annexed.
The S-400 is an anti-air missile system, and the new battalion was the second such unit deployed in Crimea. The report concerned air defence, and it did not describe any change in the peninsula's political status.
The wider setting
Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine in February and March 2014, occupied it, and then annexed it after a referendum that was illegitimate. The events followed the uncertainty that came right after Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, and they marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Seen against that background, the January 2018 deployment shows Russia reinforcing its hold on the territory almost four years after the annexation. It was the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another, and some analysts later saw the annexation as the start of a Second Cold War between Russia and the West.
The second battalion was a concrete military step on the ground, not a diplomatic gesture. It added to Russia's weaponry in Crimea.
