Skirmish in Black Sea: Imperialist Patriotism in the UK
By Laurence Humphries, RCIT Britain, 27 June 2021, www.thecommunists.net
On Wednesday the 23rd of June, a British warship HMS DEFENDER sailing through the Black Sea off the Crimean coast was intercepted by Russian jets who gave it some warning shots. Russian imperialism claimed that it was inside Russian territory.
The British bourgeois press said that it was provocations by Russian Military and defended the actions of the British warship, which was near the Crimea, a territory which Russia had annexed recently in its conflict with Ukraine.
Patriotic denunciations were echoed by both the Tory administration and by the bourgeois press. BBC news reported: “Lord Alan West, former Chief of Defence Intelligence, Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Security and Counter-Terrorism, said the Russian president's behaviour was 'appalling'. Former head of the Army General Lord Dannatt said Mr Putin is 'testing the will of the West'. He told Sky News: 'I'm a little bit surprised that the Ministry of Defence is playing it down. 'It was unreasonable of the Russians to challenge HMS Defender in the way that they did. 'The underlying point is that there are international laws that must be upheld by everyone and HMS Defender had the absolute right to be where she was yesterday.” [1]
Meanwhile Sky reported: “Appearing later before the Commons Defence Committee, Mr Wallace said the crew of HMS Defender did hear "training noises" to the rear of the ship, but it was "beyond visual range". He said the Russians had previously made false claims to have "chased out" another British warship, HMS Dragon. "These are the things that come and go with Russia. Disinformation, misinformation is something that we have seen regularly. We are not surprised by it," he said”. [2]
Both these reports fail to explain the real reason for this provocation and incursion into Russian waters irrespective whether Crimea is part of Russia or not. As the RCIT has explained on more than one occasion the long Great Depression having started in 2019 shows the developing crisis and decay of world imperialism. The rivalry and contradictions between all imperialist powers produces conflicts with the continual drive towards war and destruction of the productive forces. Each imperialist nation including Britain and Russia engage in these sorts of conflicts in their pursuit of war to gain the upper hand in these conflicts. Both Western imperialism and Eastern imperialism are continually trying to find weaknesses in their opponents so that they can gain the upper hand.
The RCIT advocates no political support to either British imperialism or Russian imperialism.
For Revolutionary Defeatism - No support to either British imperialism or Russian imperialism!
Down with the ruling classes in both Britain and Russia!
Forward in building a new Revolutionary World Party! Join the RCIT!
Footnotes
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We refer readers also to these documents:
RCIT: Russia Fires Warning Shots against UK Warship in the Black Sea. Down with Cold Warmongering! No support for any imperialist Great Power – neither UK, US nor Russia! 24 June 2021, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/russia-fires-warning-shots-against-uk-warship-in-black-sea/
Michael Pröbsting: “Next Time We Will Bomb the Target”. Shooting incident in Black Sea between UK and Russia shows that capitalism in decay is stumbling towards war, 24 June 2021, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/russia-uk-next-time-we-will-bomb-the-target/