Sometimes it seems that maisntream media outlets are just pulling their stories from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere or some other parallel universe of this kind.
A screenshot from the video
On November 25th, British Channel 5 showed “incredible footage” which showed “dangerous moments” during HMS Duncan’s leading of a NATO fleet in the Black Sea. The footage shows the Daring-class air-defence destroyer “buzzed” by 17 Russian fighter jets off the coast of Crimea.
It was somewhat expected, since Britain cannot fall behind Ukraine or any other country as pretending to be the biggest “victim” of “Russian aggression.”
The Mail Online released the footage of the “brazen hostility” of the Russian army off the coast of their own territory. The footage takes place in May 2018.
Defense secretary Gavin Williamson praised the actions of the crew aboard HMS Duncan in the face of Russian aggression. Williamson said:
“Over the past year, HMS Duncan and her crew have embodied the key role the UK plays in NATO. As NATO flagship, she has faced down brazen Russian hostility in the Black Sea with jets buzzing overhead, been stalked by Russian spy ships and played a vital role protecting NATO allies during the British, American and French strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities. Through her deployment, this world-leading ship and her crew epitomised the nation we are going to be as we exit the EU – a truly global Britain which is outward-looking and engaged on the world stage.”
Royal Navy commodore Mike Utley said the incident involving HMS Duncan shows the challenges posed by Russian military activity. He said:
“HMS Duncan is probably the only maritime asset that has seen a raid of that magnitude in the last 25 years. I think their tactics are naive. What they don’t know is how capable the ship is. When you see that much activity, I think it reinforces the nature of what people expect at the moment and why there is a challenge from Russia.”
The footage shows the jets circling around the HMS Duncan before returning to Russian soil, with one of the pilots messaging the crew with “Good luck, guys.”
The documentary showed interviews with some of the sailors, one considered the message was a warning. Another one said that “They had 17 aircraft, we have 48 missiles – I think we’re going to win that one.”
Commander Eleanor Stack, Duncan’s captain, said:
“To me if felt unprecedented. There were more aircraft than we have seen in a long time.”
Lieutenant Commander James Smith said of the NATO presence in the Black Sea:
“They may consider it to be escalatory, we certainly don’t. But it depends on how you spin the narrative. The one thing the Russians are very good at is spinning a narrative.”
Then he said something that is quite obvious and significant:
“We have to demonstrate and create our own as well. They can scream and shout all they want but we still have the right, as do all these units, to be where we are, operating how we are.”
Thus, reinforcing British and Western right to create their own narrative and follow it through.
Furthermore, no hysteria in Britain related to Russia can take place without also mentioning nerve agents and the Skripal assassination attempt.
The Telegraph reported that in March, following the alleged nerve agent attack on Sergey Skripal and Yulia Skripal, the HMS Duncan was in port in Montenegro. That, of course, was worrisome, since Montenegro was part of the Communist bloc during the Cold War era and still has many links to Russia.
In a text message sent out to all 280 crew part-way through three days of shore leave, the ship’s company were told:
“The Defence Attache has informed the ship that Montenegro authorities have been made aware of a [redacted] group that will be in the area this evening. Therefore all ships company are to return onboard by 1800.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that security advice to deployed units is based on local threat assessments and the wider geopolitical situation. Thus, the arbitrary warning that was simply a propaganda piece simply attempts to reinforce the narrative.
No other Royal Navy ships around the world were similarly told to recall personnel after the nerve agent attack.
In the event, the ship experienced no security incidents. There were also no security incidents during the “hostility” shown by Russian fighter jets as well. It is all part of a hysteria in the “Russian aggression” narrative.
Even the Telegraph reported that the NATO patrol was undeterred:
“Our radar can track a cricket ball-sized contact travelling at three times the speed of sound 150 miles away,” said one weapons engineer. On a recent visit to a Type-45 Destroyer, the ships Operations Officer told the Telegraph: “We don’t yet understand the full capability of the radar. It’s like a spaniel straining on a leash.”
On November 21st, Gavin Williamson announced that Britain would increase military presence to Ukraine to help fight “Russian aggression.”
