US sees Moscow's S-400 deployment in Crimea as threat to Europe

The deployment of second battalion of S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems in the Ukrainian region of Crimea by Russia has sparked massive reactions from United States which has termed Moscow's move as a threat to Europe and beyond.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the purpose of deploying S-400 in Russia's western Crimea Peninsula near the city of Sevastopol is "to ensure its security and it should not be perceived as a threat to anyone,as the Russian side has the right to such steps."

The escalation at the Crimea Peninsula increased when the USS Carney Tomahawk-cruise capable destroyer arrived in Ukraine's port of Odessa which is less than 200 km away from Russia's Crimea, and about 300 km from Sevastopol, home base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Kremlin's spokesman stated the the warship's visit as a "provocative activity", the first by a NATO vessel in 2018 on the Russian-Ukrainian border .Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford participated in the NATO military committee meeting at the alliance headquarters and stated that "A resurgent Russia is the greatest threat on the continent, and the alliance is putting in place capabilities to deter the Eastern neighbor."

Having modernized its military capabilities including redesigning and modernizing its nuclear capability, modernizing its maritime capabilities,Lt. Gen. Viktor Sevostyanov, commander of the air defense regiment said that the deployment of forces would contribute to the security of Crimea and the major part of the Krasnodar Territory.

It is pertinent to mention that the first battalion of the advanced missile systems was deployed near the city of Feodosia in January 2017.Dunford said, "And Russia will use its capabilities,You’ve got to look at behavior, so you’ve got to go back and look at Georgia and look at Ukraine".

In 2008, about 79,000 Russian soldiers marched into the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhasia. They faced roughly 10,000 Georgian soldiers, who were forced to retreat.

Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia after 96 percent of its residents supported the move in a referendum in March 2014.European Union, the United States and their allies, did not recognize the reunification and consider the peninsula to be an occupied territory. Nations have a right of nations to defend themselves and not be attacked by others, Dunford said. This is true, he added, whether they march into a nation in uniform or the attack “is a combination of unconventional operations, information operations, cyber, economic coercion, and political influence.”“It is still a violation of sovereignty,” the chairman said.

The S-400 is capable of striking airborne targets up to 400 kilometers away and ballistic missiles up to 60 kilometers distant.