How exciting that the press and BBC were on board HMS Defender. Of course, a major news organisation would never like to feel itself used in a propaganda war. That's why the BBC has Jonathan Beale on board, and Frank Gardner at home, discussing the strategic issues.
What's missing is an analysis of the different between 'navigation routes', which Defender says its defending, and 'shipping routes'. True, there are some RoRo ferries operating between Odessa (Ukraine) and Batumi (Georgia). But the major traffic route across the Black Sea is from the Russian port of Novorssiysk, which the Russians have been steadily building up over the past 20 years. Oil and gas pipelines are also of interest in this dispute, with Ukraine enjoying substantial Russian money for pipelines across its land. These pipelines could be sidelined by new routes in the Baltic.
And perhaps the BBC could provide us with an update on the part Russians and Ukrainians in the UK are playing in British politics ?
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