"New Russian Naval Base in Dagestan" Topic

"Moscow is relocating the home base of its Caspian Flotilla from Astrakhan to a new port facility in Kaspiysk, Dagestan (see EDM, June 4), an action scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. This move is taking on a more menacing aspect not only for Russia's own North Caucasus and the other Caspian littoral states, but also for Ukraine and the United States. Notably, Russia has for months now been shifting Caspian Flotilla vessels to the Sea of Azov, threatening Ukrainian ports and maritime traffic there. Whereas, the U.S. hopes to use the Kazakhstani port of Aktau to transfer military equipment to Afghanistan. Thus, what earlier was presented by the Russian authorities as an effort to ensure that the Caspian Flotilla would be able to put to sea more rapidly and in all seasons, increasingly it appears to be a major Russian move toward the former Soviet republics in the region and even toward the Middle East.

When the announcement was first made that the Caspian Flotilla would be moved south, the reason given was that Russian naval vessels could exit more easily from port facilities in Kaspiysk than in Astrakhan, where such moves have been limited by low or frozen waters. But today, Russian analysts are quite frank about the fact that Moscow's initial justification for the naval base move in the Caspian was far from the most important. Instead, they openly declare that the new base is about ensuring Russian dominance in the Caspian, countering Western and especially U.S. moves in the littoral states and in the Middle East, and giving Moscow more flexibility in moving ships from the Caspian to the Sea of Azov, where they are being used to put additional pressure on Ukraine…"
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