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Description
The Ukraine conflict poses unique and asymmetric challenges to the international community. Since the earliest days of the Crimean crisis, Russian support of “separatists” within Ukraine has ranged from plainclothes thugs to more traditional uniformed troops, munitions, and other forms of aid. Some of the individuals involved may have had links to the Russian military or its intelligence community. While much of the aid comes through the porous border between Russia and Ukraine, Russia also leverages the opportunity to use Black Sea smugglers as a way to supply ongoing rebellions or to initiate new revolts. Two Black Sea–bordering regions, Odessa and Transnistria, are home to active pro-Russian movements that could potentially evolve into a pro-Russian state. Worries of Russia supplying separatists via illicit movements on the Black Sea and generally advancing its Novorossyia claims should be matched to a general concern over Black Sea smuggling rings, which traffic humans, weapons, and nuclear materials into Europe via Odessa’s port.
Publication Date
4-2015
Publisher
National Defense University Press
City
Washington, DC
Recommended Citation
Sullivan, Connor; Standley, Schuyler; and Keagle, James M., "Responding to Russia after the NATO Summit: Unmanned Aerial Systems Overmatch in the Black Sea" (2015). Defense Horizons. 1.
https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/defense-horizons/1