A Russian fleet enters the Red Sea, amid Houthi attacks
A group of warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet has passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and entered the Red Sea, Russian state media reported on Thursday, citing the press service of the Pacific Fleet.
The area is crowded with Western navies trying to protect commercial vessels from attacks launched by Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. This makes the situation, if possible, even more tense.
The Russian detachment included the missile cruiser Varyag, sister ship from the Moskva which was located in the Black Sea and which was sunk in the conflict with Ukraine, and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, which passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and entered in the Red Sea, the Pacific Fleet press service said, without clarifying the reason, other than that the warships came from the Gulf of Aden, where they had carried out exercises "on various scenarios of actions of a mock enemy." We talked about the joint exercises with Iran several days ago .
The Russian warships were carrying out “assigned tasks as part of a long-distance maritime campaign,” Russian news agency TASS reported, citing the press service of the Russian Pacific Fleet, which wanted,
Tensions in the region have been high since earlier this year, when the Houthis stepped up attacks on commercial ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait en route to and from the Red Sea, forcing many shipowners and operators to suspend Suez Canal/Red Sea route for the transport of goods from Europe to Asia and vice versa.
Just this weekend, Houthi forces struck a tanker owned and operated by a Hong Kong-based company, U.S. Central Command said, calling the vessel “Chinese ,” which is technically incorrect, but in practice it is, because in any case foreign policy and the defense of Hong Kong are part of Chinese politics.
The Huang Pu, flying the Panamanian flag, was targeted with five anti-ship missiles on Saturday, CENTCOM said. The ship sent a distress signal but did not request assistance, the US Naval Institute cited Central Command as saying.
Disruption to shipping due to the attacks is diverting shipping traffic along the longest route between Asia and Europe, via Africa, pushing global oil demand higher, and boosting supplies. . According to some analysts, this situation could contribute to a deficit later in the year.
The transit of Russian ships in the Red Sea then poses a problem as to their destination, which could be the Eastern Mediterranean or even the Black Sea.
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The article A Russian fleet enters the Red Sea, amid Houthi attacks comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/una-flotta-russa-entra-nel-mar-rosso-in-mezzo-agli-attacchi-houthi/ on Thu, 28 Mar 2024 17:12:28 +0000.