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What Russia's second S-400 battalion in Crimea signalled
Summary
A look back at the military and diplomatic moves reported around 16 January 2018, from Crimea to northern Syria.
What was Moscow doing with its air defences in Crimea, and how did that sit alongside the escalating rhetoric over Syria? On 16 January 2018, both questions were in the news, following reports from the preceding days.
Air defences in Crimea
On 13 January 2018, Russia deployed a second S-400 anti-air missile battalion in Crimea. The peninsula is part of Ukraine; Russia invaded and occupied it in February and March 2014 and 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 2018 deployment added to Russia's military build-up on a territory it had seized by force.
Quarrel over a Syrian border force
On 15 January 2018, tensions rose over a United States-backed Syrian Border Security Force. Turkey threatened to "strangle" the force "before it's even born". Syria vowed to crush it and to expel American military personnel from the country. Russia called the plans "a plot to dismember Syria".
The statements came from three governments with different interests in the Syrian Civil War, and all were aimed at the same American-backed project.
Two fronts, one date
As of 16 January 2018, the reports from the previous days showed Russia reinforcing its air defences in Crimea while Ankara, Damascus and Moscow denounced the planned border force in Syria.
