Naval skirmish between Russia and Ukraine inflame tensions.

Russian military jets fly over the bridge on the Kerch Strait, currently blocked by an oil tanker. BBC/PHOTOSHOT.

A naval skirmish between Russia and Ukraine has greatly inflamed tensions between the two countries. BBC. Two Ukrainian gunboats and a tug were captured after a brief naval skirmish that left several Ukranians injured and many others captured after the ships tried to move through Kerch Strait, the connection between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The tugboat was rammed by a Russian patrol boat and the ships were prevented from entering the Sea of Azov by a tanker that blocked the way. Russia has said that they closed the entrance to the Sea of Azov due to security concerns from Ukrainian nationalists.  

My Comment:

Not very good news from Russia and Ukraine. It seems like a situation that got out of hand quickly. Both sides wanted to show the flag and show the other side who was boss but with neither side backing down it quickly devolved into a conflict where a couple people got hurt. Thankfully nobody got killed but it was a black mark for everyone involved. 

I think both sides deserve the blame here. Russia probably doesn't need to protect the bridge this much. Though I do think the threat from Ukrainian nationalists is real, they are going to hard on the Ukrainians, and I doubt that the security concerns are the most important considerations here. My guess is that the security inspections and this skirmish are nothing more than a middle finger to the Ukrainians. 

Of course the Ukrainians aren't without blame either. Though they should have the right to pass through the Kerch Strait, they had other options than engaging in this stunt. They could have tried to let diplomacy work but instead they tried to ram through the blockade and ended up with three of their vessels being captured. My guess is that they did that to gain sympathy from the west.

How well that will work is unclear. The West has always had an unhealthy obsession with Ukraine despite some very obvious flaws in doing so. None of this would have happened if the West hadn't helped to overthrow an admittedly corrupt president. And I always find it frustrating that everyone seems to ignore the fact that some of the Pro-Ukraine militias are actual Nazis. None of this excuses Russia's bad actions in the region, but I do think there is some obvious bias. 

So what happens now? The usual suspects on social media are claiming that this will lead to World War 3 while ignoring the fact that much worse incidents happened during the Ukraine War that didn't lead to much of anything. The rebels shot down a civilian airliner and basically nobody cared. If that didn't lead to war than the capture of a few gunboats and a tug isn't going to cause anything. It's obviously not a positive development by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not going to lead to a wider war, not matter what people are saying.