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What Russia's second S-400 battalion meant for Crimea
Summary
A look back at mid-January 2018 reports of a new Russian air-defence deployment on the peninsula and a separate row over Syria.
What was Russia adding to its military posture in Crimea as of 18 January 2018? Reports in the days before that date said Moscow had deployed a second S-400 anti-air missile battalion on the peninsula, with the deployment reported on 13 January 2018.
Crimea is part of Ukraine. Russia invaded and occupied it in February and March 2014, then annexed it after an illegitimate referendum, amid the uncertainty that followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity. That invasion marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The annexation is described as the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another.
Against that background, the second S-400 battalion was a further build-up of air-defence systems on territory Russia had seized.
A separate dispute over Syria
Russia featured in another international dispute in the same days. On 15 January 2018, Turkey threatened to "strangle" the United States-backed Syrian Border Security Force "before it's even born". Syria vowed to crush the force and expel American military personnel from the country. Russia called the plans "a plot to dismember Syria".
The two stories were separate, but both showed Russia positioning itself against Western interests in different theatres in the middle of January 2018.
