Russia correspondent Iris de Graaf:
“The Black Sea area has recently become a focal point of tension. In the spring, the UK sent two naval vessels to the area to show solidarity with Ukraine. That was when tensions arose over the Russian troop build-up in eastern Ukraine. .
Russia then announced that it would close certain parts of the Black Sea for six months to foreign naval vessels. Every small ‘violation’ is immediately seen here in Russia as a provocation of the ‘own territory’.
You can now see that in the headlines in the Russian state media. The focus is very much on ‘our Russian borders’ and their illegal crossing. In the Russian media, we also read that NATO activity near Russia’s borders had “increased significantly” in recent days, and that “Western ships operate almost permanently in the Black and Baltic Seas.”
This is portrayed in the media as ‘obvious Western provocations’, the ‘Western enemy’ that Russia does not respect. The image is conveyed that the West is provoking and that Russia is only busy protecting its own territory.
It is – I think – also a signal of power; a signal to Ukraine not to get too close to the West and to show that Crimea is ours and you in the West have nothing to say about that.”
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