Why Russia opened fire near the British coast | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and. today we're joined by our Russia analyst. Vitaly Shevchenko. And Vitaly, a Russian. warship has been carrying out drills off. the coast of Britain. This isn't the. first time this has happened. So, what's. going on? >> Well, first off, I'd like to reassure. you, Charlotte, that Britain is not. about to be invaded by Russia. At least, I don't really see what happened on.

Monday as a sign of a possible Russian. invasion. Uh there's nothing unusual, strictly. speaking, about Russian warships to be. present in the English Channel. They've. been doing it for years, usually, normally, transiting. elsewhere on their way to hold their. exercises. uh at a different location. What makes this incident much more. serious.

is the fact that this warship, the. Neustrashimy or the Indomitable in. Russian, decided. to hold live-fire exercises just uh 40. mi. nautical miles south of Plymouth. That. is rare. That is unusual. And I think. it's right for numerous analysts to be. wondering what is going on. So, there's.

clearly a message there, I think, because it happened on the day when. um a new Prime Minister took office in. the UK. Even though the Kremlin denied. it, they said, "Well, there there's no. message. We note Andy Burnham's um. policy of supporting Ukraine, but it wasn't our intention to drop any. hints with the live-fire exercise." So, why did they do it? Well, it's part of. what's called military posture. They.

want to send a message of might, power. Look at our ships. Look at our guns. Be. afraid. And also, uh the the other side of it, if you. like, [snorts]. is testing your adversaries' responses, what they are willing and able to do in. response to to such actions. And I have. to say that the Neustrashimy did not.

enter Britain's uh territorial waters. It didn't really break any. uh international laws. So, on the one. hand, this is unusual, this is serious, but on the other hand on the other hand, it's it's not a sign of an imminent. invasion. >> Last week, Poland scrambled fighter jets. because they spotted Russian aircraft. over the Baltic. So, are lots of these. exercises, I guess Russia would call. them, being carried out near NATO. territory? >> That's right. Russia has a long-time.

policy, well-rooted policy, of carrying. out all sorts of flights, surveillance. flights, and flights involving huge. bombers called Bears in the. NATO terminology. We just fly and again. send a message to whatever country they. happen to be uh flying next to. Uh it. can be Britain, it can be the United. States. Uh these flights resumed under.

Vladimir Putin in 2007. And he said, "Well, our our our pilots. have been sitting idle for for too long. Let them, you know, stretch their wings. and and and do some flights." But you. will appreciate, Charlotte, it's a more. serious activity than just stretching. your wings. Uh. Uh again, it tests what NATO is prepared. to do in response. It sends a message of.

being there, being present. And it it costs money scrambling all. those uh scrambling those uh jets uh. requires a lot of. uh training, fuel, and preparedness. So, uh NATO um. air forces that they they they've got to. be prepared as well looking at the skies. uh uh searching for those Russian bears.

>> Do other countries do this? So, would. Moscow say NATO is holding exercises too. close to Russian territory, for example? >> Uh everyone does it. Uh no military in the world uh worth. their salt is sitting at home twiddling. their thumbs. waiting for that knock at the door from. whoever they consider to be their. enemies or adversaries. Uh NATO. conducts exercises in the Arctic and the.

Baltic before the war in Ukraine, um they they held exercises called Sea. Breeze [snorts] in the Black Sea. Of. course, uh whoever is is uh watching. these exercises other. uh countries from, you know, adversaries, they're not going to be. happy. They will make upset noises. It's. It's It's part of the course. It's a. game, if you like, played by militaries. across the world. Naturally, when it comes to Russia,

again, it's different because. there are exercises, there are messages, there are signaled intentions, and threats, and. there are real invasions. And Russia, as. as uh you will know, is involved in a. very. real long-running. lethal invasion. That's why. uh when people see all these exercises. involving Russia and then these flights. and and just Russian ships.

involved in activities. that seem suspicious, they are concerned that Russia might be. up to something. I'll give you an. example. Earlier this year, the then. British. Secretary of Defense, John Healey, he. said that Russia was involved in. uh suspicious activities around. pipelines. and cables on the seabed. uh. near Britain. And it's true.

that the Russian Defense Ministry has a. special. department called GUGI, which stands for. um deep-sea research department. And. they have things like sub-marines. equipped with literal scissors that can. cut cables. So, when. uh. GUGI ships. uh spend some time near these cables, to.

people watching on, people looking on, >> [laughter]. >> this time seems to be so long, and they. will be asking questions. >> That sounds very James Bond, I have to. say, Vitaly. The idea of these scissors. connected to a ship under sea. Now, what. do you think this says about the state. of relations with Moscow and the West? And then also the prospect, as you. mentioned, Ukraine of any kind of peace. in Ukraine, any kind of peace deal? >> The state of relations is. dire.

Moscow says that in in certain aspects, with certain countries, it doesn't. exist. Uh they don't talk to each other. And it's hardly surprising given what. Russia has has been doing. Whatever reasons Russia gives for. attacking. Ukraine, um the fact remains that Russian troops. crossed an internationally recognized.

border and are still attacking an. independent state. So, um. the intention. as we can understand it. and and I've been watching Kremlin. messaging for 20. five years. The intention seems to be. to crush Ukraine as a sovereign and. independent state. And Western nations have given the.

Russian president very little reason to. reconsider. his his campaign. In fact, it was. emboldened by. um an almost complete phasing out end to. American aid. to Ukraine. Why would he stop if he. I suspect strongly if he thought that, you know, he's doing so well and. Ukraine's about to fall. The only reason. why. he might be feeling a bit more concerned.

right now. is Ukraine's campaign of drone strikes. But again, I don't think we are at a. stage when Vladimir Putin. will think that his policy towards. Ukraine and his expansionist and. um. very obvious policy across the world. involving various exercises, we're not. at a stage when he will think, you know, what it's not working. I've got to stop.

all that. >> Vitaly, thanks so much. That was Vitaly. Shevchenko. And this is the Global News. Podcast. And if you'd like to hear more. from us, please click the link below.