Home › World › Russia's S-400 build-up and Syria's border force row
Russia's S-400 build-up and Syria's border force row
Summary
A look back at two regional security stories reported in the days before 19 January 2018: more Russian air defence in Crimea and a dispute over a US-backed force in Syria.
What were Moscow and its neighbours doing in the days before 19 January 2018? Two separate reports, dated 13 and 15 January, pointed to a tense start to the year.
Crimea: a second S-400 battalion
On 13 January 2018, Russia deployed a second S-400 anti-air missile battalion in Crimea. The peninsula is part of Ukraine, which Russia invaded, occupied and then annexed in 2014 after an illegitimate referendum, amid the uncertainty that followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity. That invasion marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Some analysts later came to see the annexation as the beginning of a Second Cold War between Russia and the West.
Syria: a row over a border force
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 to expel American military personnel from the country. Russia called the plans "a plot to dismember Syria".
The reactions came from three governments with different stakes in the conflict, and all three were directed at the same American-backed project.
Taken together, the two stories showed Russia strengthening its military posture in occupied Crimea while criticising American plans in Syria.
