Russia admits US superiority in Pacific
The Russian military has the capability to successfully counter the American fleet inside the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, but it does not have a sufficient number of vessels and aircraft to effectively counter the US fleet in the Far East, a senior official has admitted.
Speaking on Tuesday at a roundtable of the Federation Council, Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov explained that the Americans have a greater capability in the Pacific region.
“If we take purely the fleet, the Americans’ superiority in the number of ships and response capabilities is much higher than ours,” Gadzhimagomedov said. “We can close the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea completely, but we still lack ships and aviation in the Far East.”
Gadzhimagomedov, who is the deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, was responding to a question from a senator regarding a recent incident in the Far East. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that an American nuclear submarine had been detected by the country’s Pacific Fleet in national territorial waters, just off the Kuril Islands. According to Moscow, the vessel was chased away after it ignored warnings and orders to surface.
However, according to Washington, no such incident happened. Speaking in response to Moscow’s claims, US Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Kyle Raines denied ever crossing into Russian territorial waters.
“I will not comment on the precise location of our submarines, but we do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters,” he said.
