Via Yorkshire Ranter, the Russians seem to be staging what amounts to a massive exercise in the Atlantic, involving not only the Air Force (Tu-95 and Tu-160 heavy strategic bombers) but also the Navy (including the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov). This is on the heels of a big Russian bomber incursions into the North Sea in October and December. The British Royal Air Force seems particularly touchy about this kind of thing, as it falls to the RAF to monitor and escort the Russian patrols as they approach NATO territory. While this is going on, Anglo-Russian diplomatic relations seem to be going down the tubes. The tensions stem from the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko a couple of years ago, and have extended to dueling expulsions by the two governments. In July the British kicked four Russian diplomats out of London, and last week the Russians succeeded in driving a British cultural organization out of St. Petersburg. Domestic political considerations are driving some of the tension. Much of the Russian military activity is undoubtedly spurred by the desire to look tough on foreigners in an election year, although organizational retrenchment probably accounts for the rest. In the U.K., the Royal Navy has been happy to play up the Russian "threat," as it gives the organization a claim on scarce defense resources at a time in which its surface and submarine fleets are aging and, some would argue, without purpose. -- Robert Farley
