Ukrainians Go Nuts Over Special Postage Stamp : Puchin ... Go Fcuk Your Mutter

Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself Stamp. Image : Ukrposhta

On 24th Feb 2022, the day when the illegal fullscale invasion of Ukraine by Russia had began, a small detachment of Ukrainian border guards stationed on the tiny Zmiinyi Island ( Snake Island ) in the Black Sea openly defied a call to surrender when confronted by the Russian missile cruiser Moskva and instead told the warship to go fuck itself. In doing so, they bravely risked death and destruction and the entire garrison was subsequently captured by the Russian forces.

The audio clip of that radio transmission was later released by a Ukranian government advisor and the courageous resistance of the soldiers in the face of an overwhelming enemy force quickly became known worldwide as the Snake Island Incident.

Now the Ukrainian Postal Service ( Ukrposhta ) has issued a special stamp showing a Ukrainian soldier giving the finger to the Moskva. It became an instant hit with the Ukrainians with tens of thousands forming long queues at post offices just to buy this stamp. 

Just a day after the stamp release, the Moskva would be severely damaged after being hit by Ukrainian shore-based anti-ship missiles ( ASM ). It eventually sank one day later with an untold number of casualties ...  

President Volodymyr Zelensky with his stamp sheets
and autographed first day covers. Photo : Ukrposhta

Most Extraordinary Stamp Issue

This " Russian Warship, Fuck You ...! " stamp issue is highly unusual. In my close to five decades of pursueing stamp collecting as a hobby, I must confess I had never seen anything like this. It is by philatelic standards exceedingly obscene.

As most of us know, the postal authorities are usually some kind of government controlled or affiliated organisation and they are mostly conservative when it comes to postage stamp designs. Common themes include plants and animals, important landmarks and scenery, famous people, historical events, artistic and cultural stuff ... all very prim and proper, sometimes to the point of being boring! They hardly ever contain offensive words or pictures. All that changed with the release of the Ukranian special. This is a watershed moment in the history of philately, make no mistake.

The profane hand gesture by the soldier is boldly illustrated in the stamp design and it was officially sanctioned by the postal service! Allowing a obscene image to be in public circulation on a stamp is simply unheard of in the past! Despite the indecent nature of the stamp design, the Ukranians embraced it and many rushed to the post offices to purchase this stamp on the first day of issue. 

Just a million copies have been printed, a very small quantity for a country of 40 million people. Having said that, the normal print run for Ukrainian Post's special stamp issues typically range from only 20000 to 130000 copies. Despite a six fold increase in production, stocks of the " Russian warship, fuck you ... ! " were exhausted at the post offices within a few days and the Ukranian Postage Service's home page declared the stamp only available from online sales thereafter. However, till this day since the stamp release, the Ukrposhta online shop would never load when you clicked on the link, having fallen victim to Russian DDoS cyber attack. 

The stamp issue comes in two denominations, F and W. Interestingly, the letter F did not stand for what I initially thought it could be. The F denomination has a face value of 23UAH ( Ukrainian Hryvni ) which is about USD0.77. It is used for domestic postage. The W denomination has a face value of USD1.50 and is used for international postage.

For those lucky enough to have laid their hands on this stamp, they will likely reap a tidy profit should they choose to resell. Prices are already quite wild on Ebay. Enterprising Ukrainians are listing the single W denomination stamp at US$75 and the entire block of six at US$445, shipping not included!

The winning design, number 3 in a list of 20.
A gesture is worth a thousand words. Ukrposhta.

The Winning Design

Slightly more than a week after the Snake Island Incident on 1st Mar 2022, Ukrposhta announced a public contest for the sketch of a special stamp issue " Russian Warship Fuck You!". There were a total of more than 500 submissions and twenty designs made it to the final round. These were then put to the vote online on 12th Mar. The Ukrainians overwhelmingly voted for design number 3 by artist Boris Groh. It garnered 1756 out of 8000 votes from Facebook and Instagram users. You can see all of the 20 illustrations that made it to the final at the end of this article.

Boris Groh profile photo from Youtube.

Boris Groh is a professional artist who used to live in Yevpatoria, Crimea. When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, he was forced to leave home and initially moved to Kyiv. He is currently based in Lviv. He mostly specialises in dark science-fiction and fantasy art and quite a number of his illustrations feature giant skeletons and monsters. Some of his previous works can be seen here and here.

According to Ukrposhta, when Boris Groh heard of the heroic defense of Snake Island by the Ukrainian military on the first day of the Russian invasion, he was so impressed that he decided to paint a picture to raise the morale and spirits of fellow Ukrainians as well as to draw the attention of foreigners who follow his art work on social media. It was completed in about 3 days and would have only taken 5 hours had he not been distracted by the news. He promptly submitted his artwork when the competition for the stamp design was announced and the rest, as they say, is history.

Roman Hrybov receiving an award for his bravery 29 Mar 2022.
Photo : Ukraine Defense

Now Hear This ...

The transcription of the exchange between Moskva and the defenders of Zmiinyi Island goes something like this :

Moskva : I am a Russian military ship. I propose you lay down your weapons immediately, to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise you will be bombed.

Moskva : I repeat. I am a Russian military ship. I propose you lay down your arms or you will be hit. Do you copy.

Ukrainian : This is it. 

Ukrainian : Or do we need to fuck them back off?  

Ukrainian female : Might as well.

Ukrainian : Russian warship, go fuck yourself.

End of transmission

The original exchange was in Russian and can be heard in the video created by The Independent below.

Contrary to what was erroneously reported initially, the thirteen soldiers on Snake Island were not killed by the bombardment which occurred after the ultimatum was issued. They were captured alive by the Russian Navy and were brought to Sevastopol in Russian controlled Crimea. Roman Hrybov, the soldier who uttered the now famous phrase, had to endure a month of imprisonment at an unknown jail where he was constantly starved and beaten by the prison guards. He was eventually repatriated to Ukraine via a prisoner swap but had lost 10kg of his body weight. On 29 Mar 2022 Hrybov even received a medal for his bravery, though he insisted that he is not a hero.

Stamp sheets and first day covers autographed by Roman Htybov and
the director general of Ukrposhta Igor Smelyansky. Photo : Ukrposhta

Russian Warship Go ... ! Glory To Heroes

The official title of the special stamp issue when translated to English is " Russian warship go ... ! Glory to heroes! ". The title is printed in both the Ukrainian and English language on the margins of the stamp sheet together with stylised illustration of a voice transmission. Of course all the " traffic light " sheet markings used by the colour printing process are also there, except that they take the form of the Ukrainian Crest and are not in the usual round shape. 

The colour scheme of the stamp design closely resembled the state colours of Ukraine with the soldier standing on a yellowish looking ground and the warship off-shore with the blue sea and sky as the background. From the point of finalising the design, Ukrposhta had exactly one month to get it ready for release. The stamps are printed in sheets of six and a first day cover bearing the same design as the stamp is also on sale for 6UAH. A special postmark depicting the outline of Snake Island was commissioned for use on the first day of stamp issue on 12 Apr 2022.

Special first day of issue postmark depicting outline of Snake Island

Smelyansky (L) and Hrybov autographing first day covers.
 Photo : Ukrposhta

On the first day of issue at Kiev's Central Post Office, Ukrposhta's director general Igor Smelyansky could be seen autographing first day covers with Roman Hrybov. There were long queues at post offices all over Ukraine as the ordinary folks just wanted to have the stamp that mocked Russia. 

Long queues at Kyiv's Central Post Office to buy
the Russian Ship Special. Photo : Ukrposhta FB

Here's what Smelyansky had to say about the " Russian Warship, Fuck You " stamp issue. "Ukrainian philately during war is a reflection of the events experienced by our state and our people. The phrase that inspired us to create the postage stamp has already become a symbol of indomitability of the AFU, the volunteers, the territorial defense, all Ukrainians in the fight for their land and the independence of Ukraine. I am sure that Ukrainians and our friends from abroad will be pleased to receive letters with such a postage stamp. And today in this postal way we once again remind the invaders that they should immediately get off our land and follow their ship." 

Demonstrators at Helsinki 26th Mar 2022. Wikipedia

Already, people all over the world are picking up that phrase and giving Russians the verbal abuse that only they deserve as invaders, murderers, barbarians and mother fuckers. 

You might have heard of the Georgian maintenance ship whose first mate not only refused to provide fuel but told the requesting Russian ship to go fuck itself. Fucking invaders, added the captain. When the Russian asked what happens if he ran out of fuel, he was told to use his oars! This incident likely inspired stamp designs Number 15, 17 and 20. ( See end of article for illustrations ) 

Stamp and first day cover auction on Prozorro. Image : Ukrposhta

Real Benefits For The AFU 

Even before the dust had settled from the stampede for the Russian Warship stamps, Ukrposhta had already conducted an auction for the first day covers autographed by Roman Hrybov and Ukrposhta Director General Igor Smelyansky. It was conducted through the Ukrainian government's online public procurement / tender platform Prozorro on 22 Apr 2022. After several rounds of contested bidding, the winning bid, submitted by a certain Luis Perez, was 5 million UAH ( US$165300 ) and all proceeds would go to the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( AFU ) to fund the war effort.

More autions have been planned for the future with first day covers autographed by the Commander-In-Chief of the AFU General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

The Moskva in a 2012 file photo. Wikipedia

The Moskva Fucked

The Moskva is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy commissioned in 1983. It was previously known as the Slava but was renamed Moskva ( meaning Moscow ) in 1995. It was the flag ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Only three such cruisers had been built and they are monstrous with a full load displacement of 11490 tons and a complement of 510 officers and enlisted personnel.

Late on 13th Apr 2002 just a day after the special stamp was issued, the Moskva was at a location 180km south of Odessa when it was hit by two, possibly more, land-based Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune ASM. The missile strike started a fire which could not be controlled and could have caused secondary explosions involving the ship's ammunition stores. The Moskva subsequently sank the next day while being towed to port.

The Moskva burning and listing to port. Photo : Wikipedia

Russia never wanted to admit that its cruiser was hit by missiles. It claimed that an ammunition fire onboard had damaged the ship and it could not be contained. The cruiser sank in stormy weather when being towed. Casualty figures were not released by the Russian Navy until 23rd Apr 2022, almost 10 days after the incident, with 1 dead and 27 missing. 396 sailors were rescued. 

The leaked photograph of the burning and heavily listing Moska was consistent with the damage that one would expect from missile strike(s), according to expert analysts such as H I Sutton of the CovertShores fame. This was later corroborated by a senior Pentagon official who said that the cruiser was hit by two Ukranian Neptune missiles. 

Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptun ASM at a glance.
Image : @Capt_Navy via Twitter

The Neptune ASM is a Ukraine designed and manufactured subsonic, sea-skimmimg anti-ship missile based on the Soviet-era KH-35 missile ( NATO reporting name AS-20 Kayak ). The KH-35 is also known as the Harpoonski as it resembled the US Harpoon ASM both in external appearance and functionality. 

It was developed by the Kyiv based Luch Design Bureau from 2013 and was problematic as it suffered from chronic lack of funding. Despite these hurdles, the first successful flight tests were conducted in 2018 and the Neptune coastal defense system was officially accepted for service in late 2020. The missile has a maximum range of 280km and has radar-homing for terminal guidance. It carried a 150kg warhead and was designed to defeat frigates and destroyers up to 5000 tons in displacement.

Neptune ASM USPU-360 mobile launcher with quad canisters. Wikipedia

That the Ukrainian Armed Forces could have conducted a successful missile strike on the Moskva already defied comprehension as the Russian cruiser was supposed to have a multi-tiered air defense system to protect not only itself but other friendly naval assets in the immediate area of operations from aerial threats. It had the long range S-300F Triumf surface to air missile in 8x8 cell VLS, the short range OSA-M ( SA-N-4 Gecko ) missile and 6 x AK-630 CIWS as the last line of defense. 

With sometimes less than a minute of warning from the discovery of an inbound ASM to the warhead striking home, defeating such hostile threats required the immediate execution of preset missile drills that had been rehearsed countless times in the past. There is simply no time to think. Speculation is rife that the Russian sailors were either caught napping or were just not prepared or trained well enough for this type of attack.

Having said that, a warship as large as the Moskva could probably survive one or two hits from anti-ship missiles provided the missiles did not strike any critical infrastructure and that the damage mitigation effort is excellent. The rapid sinking of the Moskva was really unexpected and could be due to a combination of bad luck such as the missile striking ammunition stores and poor fire fighting and damage control. 

In fact, before this incident the Russians had believed the Moskva was unsinkable so much so that the Russian Orthodox Church placed a relic of utmost importance, a fragment of the True Cross, within the ship's chapel. Whether this ancient artefact made it out with the survivors of the doomed cruiser remained to be seen.

The loss of the the Moskva which bears the name of the Russian capital city to puny Ukraine was a tremendous humiliation for Putin. It is a BIG deal as the last time the Russian Navy lost a flagship in battle was in 1905 during the Battle of Tsushima ( 対馬沖海戦 tsushima oki kaisen ) where the battleship Knyaz Suvorov, flagship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Second Pacific Squadron was destroyed by Japanese torpedo boats. 

It was estimated that the Black Sea Fleet had lost a third of its combat capabilities with the Moskva gone. Currently its biggest surface combatants are 3 frigates and with the Bosphorus Straits closed to the Russian Navy there would be no immediate replacement possible for the sunken crusier. Forbes Ukraine had estimated the value of the Moskva at USD$750 million. That price obviously did not include the cost of the yet untold number of Russian lives lost with the ship. With such a calamity befalling on the Black Sea Fleet, Putin as the commander-in-chief did not bother to visit Sevastopol where the Fleet HQ is located to check on the survivors. He does not even pretend to show concern for the well being and the lives of his own soldiers. It's probably only a matter of time before he is, uhm, fucked out of office. 

Nobody fucks with the Ukrainian farmer. Image : Ukrainian Farmy.

What Ukrainians Really Wanted To Say

When the 2022 invasion of Ukraine began 8 weeks ago, no military analyst worth his salt or any of the major Western powers had given Ukraine any chance of resisting the Russian troops for more than a few days at best. The Americans even offered to evacuate Volodymyr Zelensky from his capital but the resolute President of Ukraine refused and instead said that what he needed was ammunition, not a ride. The will of the Ukrainian people to defend their homeland and the strong leadership by the Ukranian government ensured that the Russian invaders got bogged down and were inflicted with heavy losses. They had overcome all odds to have not only fought and survived for 2 months but to counterattack and drove the Russians out especially in the vicinity of Kyiv and northern Ukraine.

Ukrainians take great pride in defying the Russians in everyway possible and have embraced heroes like the fabled MiG-29 fighter pilot only known as the Ghost of Kyiv who had supposedly shot down quite a number of Russian aircraft and ordinary soldiers like Roman Hrybov who valiantly stood up against tyranny in the face of adversity, in the process becoming a national sensation. It is always a pleasure to show the Russians the Middle finger.

This " Russian Warship .. Go Fuck Yourself " phrase had caught the attention of the entire world and had immediately become the rallying war cry for Ukrainians in their fight for survival and freedom. The issuance of the special stamp further consolidated the global awareness of this unusually defiant statement which came from a small group of Ukranian defenders of an island in the Black Sea that nobody had heard of before.  

The fact that the Moskva had been sunk barely two days after the stamp issueing was most probably coincidental, but it was payback time for the destruction of the facilities on Zmiinyi Island and the ill treatment of the captured border guards. Ukrainians are now clamouring for Ukrposhta to issue Putin stamps, with the hope that a similar prophecy can be fulfilled. I believe Ukrainians are just too restrained to put it down in ink or print but what they really wanted to say is Puchin ..... Go Fcuk Your Mutter. 

 

 

Turkey Shoot : Fencer Down!

Fencer Down ... Hip Down ...



The Sukhoi Su-24M Fencer of the Russian Air Force shown in this 2009 photo is a supersonic all-weather fighter-bomber with variable-sweep wings and tandem seats. A product of the Cold-War, its American counterpart of the same era, though now long retired, is the General Dynamics FB-111 Aardvark. Photo : Wikipedia

No we are not referring to the Marianas Turkey Shoot of June 1944 or the Bekka Valley Turkey Shoot of June 1982. Ten days ago, a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M Fencer fighter-bomber on an bombing mission against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL ) in northern Syria was shot down by F-16 fighters of the Turkish Air Force, after it apparently violated Turkish air space and did not respond to at least ten warnings over a period of five minutes. The aircraft was seen to have gone down in flames. Both crew ejected but one was killed by rebel fighters while the other was rescued.

Meanwhile a Mi-8 Hip helicopter dispatched to the crash site on a search and rescue mission made an unscheduled landing after it developed mechanical issues came under fire by Free Syrian Army rebel forces using supposedly American supplied TOW anti-tank missiles. It was also completely destroyed with one its crew member killed.

This has to be until now the worse day for the Russian Forces operating in Syria in support of the Assad regime. It was an accident waiting to happen, as multiple fast jets, helicopters and drones from various nations fighting ISIL ply the narrow and congested corridors in the boarder zones between Syria and Turkey with impunity. The situation was made more complicated by many previous violations of Turkish air space by Russian fighter jets in the past two months with Turkey warning about tough consequences and new rules of engagement.

According to the Washington Post, it was the first time in more than 63 years when an aircraft from a NATO member had shot down Soviet planes and it represented a serious international incident with the potential for escalation. Russian President Bloodimir Putin was naturally livid, claiming that the bomber was in Syrian air space within 1 km of the boarder when it was shot down, that it was a " stab in the back ".

Now, Russia has the perfect excuse to deploy advanced air defense missiles and more fighter jets to Syria, right at the doorsteps of NATO's southern boarder ... all thanks to the trigger-happiness of one madman Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Syrian Morass

As the World knows, the popular Syrian uprising against their oppressive government lead by President Bashar al-Assad which began in the spring of 2011 quickly deteriorated into an all out civil war with multiple factions fighting the government forces as well as each other. Many of these factions are divided along ethnic or religious lines and are backed by various power players in the Middle-East like Turkey and Saudi Arabia while others have links to extremist organisations like al-Qaeda. The more moderate rebel militias received support from the US and the European Union. The Assad regime meanwhile received support from Russia, Iraq and even direct assistance from Iran in the form of Hezbollah fighters and military advisors on the ground. The situation became even more complicated by late 2012 when the Kurds in northern Syria, initially neutral, got dragged into the conflict as well.

It was unfortunate that all those events were happening at a time when the US forces was being drawn down in neighbouring Iraq. With the Iraq Army militarily weak and the command and government riddled with corruption, the Sunni insurgent group which called itself the Islamic State of Iraq ( ISI ) started to seize territory in northern and western Iraq, culminating in the capture of the City of Mosul. Lead by a core of former Ba'athist military and intelligence officers who served under the Saddam regime, ISI also established itself over the border in Syria as well, fighting both the Assad forces and the rebel forces simultaneously.

No doubt aided by the large quantities of weapons captured from the impotent Iraqi Army, many of which were donated by the US, the Islamic insurgents proved themselves to be a capable fighting force and rapidly gained territory in Syria. By April 2013, with large swathes of land straddling Iraq in the east and Syria in the west under its control, the organisation declared itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ), sometimes also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL ), Islamic State ( IS ), or simply Daesh to the Arab speaking world.

ISIL has been labeled a terror organisation by the United Nations and many other countries around the world. It imposed strict Islamic law on the populace in the regions that it occupied and carried out hideous crimes against humanity including destruction of heritage sites, torture, rape, summary executions, beheadings and even ethnic cleansing. Internet savvy experts then upload videos of such criminal acts online as propaganda and to recruit fighters, many of whom were foreigners seeking adventure and glory. Funding came from various sources including the sale of oil and refined petroleum products, sale of looted antiques from state museums and institutions, tax imposed on the populace and businesses, ransom moneys paid by kidnapped victims ... you get the idea.




Mesopotamian Morass as of 18th Nov 2015 : Pink - Iraqi Government controlled ; Grey - ISIL ; Dark Yellow - Iraqi Kurdistan ; Lighter Yellow - Syrian Kurdistan ; Light Orange : Syrian Government ; Green - Syrian Rebels ; White - Ai-Nusra Front ; Blue - Hezbollah ; Deep Orange - Lebanon Government. Wikipedia 

Coalition Air Campaign Against ISIL 

While the United States was contented to initially providing non-lethal aid to the Syrian rebels at the beginning of the civil war, it soon became obvious that more had to be done for the rebels to at least have a remote chance of toppling Assad or warding off ISIL. Weapons, ammunition and training for moderate rebels soon followed. The gruesome beheading of several foreign journalists and aid workers by ISIL last year ultimately resulted in the commencement of air strikes in Syria on 22nd Sep 2014 by a coalition of nations which included the US, France, Canada, Australia, Turkey and several Arab League nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

Obama and his Air Force brass were then quite confident of crushing ISIL within a matter of weeks with their bombing sorties but one year on they weren't so sure anymore. More and more aircraft types were quietly added to the strike fleet, including the A-10C Warthog and even the AH-64D Apache, but ISIL remained elusive and resilient. Let no one be deluded to believe that a few bombs dropped over a vast desert could actually defeat an insurgent group like ISIL without putting boots on the ground. Anyway, one after another, the various coalition partners lost their focus and withdrew their tiny fleets, leaving the US to shoulder the main burden of the air campaign. Jordan stopped contributing after its F-16 pilot was captured and burnt alive, Canada terminated its efforts after a change in government, the Arab League got distracted by a new conflict in Yemen.... . So that set the stage for the Russians to get their hands dirty too.

Russian Deployment To Syria

Russia had always kept close ties with Syria for as long as anyone could remember. Syria is its strategic partner in the Middle-East providing Russia with a naval base in the Mediterranean Sea. Syria is also an important client for Russian arms export, generating billions of dollars worth of hard cash for Putin. In return, Syria gets political support from Moscow at the international level, to shield it from any accusations of wrong doings or misdeeds. It is sort of a symbiotic relationship.

If the Assad regime goes, Moscow could lose its foothold in the Middle-East as the next government may not necessarily be Russia-leaning. So I suppose Putin finally decided that the time was ripe for direct Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, one year after the US lead bombing campaign achieved hardly any results.

The most amazing thing about the Russian military deployment to Syria was no doubt the rapidness with which its was implemented when the order was given. The first indications of a possible Russian deployment came in September when a sudden increase in military air transport to the Syrian port city of Latakia was noted. Within days, the infrastructure to accommodate entire air wings were erected, complete with modular living quarters, control tower, helipads and the works. A ground protection force of marine commandos and T-90 main battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers were also deployed.

What followed was the deployment of close to 40 combat aircrafts of various types : 4 Su-30SM Flanker, 12 Su-24M Fencer, 4 Su-34 Fullback, 12 Su-25 Frog Foot and about a dozen helicopters including gunships.





Russian Air Force Su-25 Frog Foot ground attack aircraft at Hmeimim Air Base 2015. Photo Russian Defense Ministry.





Russian Air Force Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber with its distinctive tandem seats, canards and stinger. Source : Wikipedia



Su-30SM Multi-role Fighter with short range air-to-air missiles. Source United Aircraft Corporation

The Su-24 is an ageing Soviet era supersonic fighter bomber with variable-sweep wings designed in the sixties, the equivalent of the General Dynamics FB-111 Aardvark of the USAF. The Su-25 is a dedicated ground attack aircraft very similar to the Fairchild Republic A-10 Warthog. The Su-30SM is an advance Flanker variant capable of both air-superiority and attack roles. The Su-34 is Russia's newest fighter-bomber meant to replace the Su-24 and Syria is the first operational deployment of this aircraft type. So, all in all, a small contingent which is mainly geared towards the attack role with only nominal fighter top cover, not surprising as the insurgents the Russians are fighting have no air assets of their own to threaten the Russian aircrafts.

Russian Anti-ISIL Air Campaign

All through October and much of November, the Russian aircrafts happily bombed what they insisted were ISIL targets. They authorities claimed that by 30th Nov, exactly 2 months since the commencement of the Russian air campaign, the air force had generated 2300 sorties and bombed 4100 terrorist targets, exceeding in just one month more that what the US and its allies did in a whole year. Of course to be fair the Russians operated from an airbase within Syria and transit time to the targets are very short while the American lead effort have to utilize air bases much further, like Incirlik in Turkey, or even in Europe.

Unfortunately, the Russians have been criticized for bombing the moderate anti-Assad rebels in western Syria rather than concentrating on ISIL strongholds in eastern Syria. They also attacked Turkey affiliated Turkmen rebels along the Syrian-Turkey boarder and that created friction with Ankara. To make matters worse, the Russians have not been exactly mindful of the Turkish airspace when conducting their bombing raids near the boarder. More than once, Russian bombers have strayed across the boundary into Turkish airspace. Despite many warnings that have been issued and rules of engagement ( ROE ) that have been revised, the Russians continued their careless patrols, seemingly oblivious to the Turkish threats to have violating aircraft shot down.

Recent Shoot Down Incidences

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, there has been numerous boarder incidences resulting in the shooting down of aircrafts belonging to both Turkey and Syria. On 22 Jun 2012, a Turkish RF-4E Phantom II reconnaissance jet was shot down by Syria after it unintentionally strayed into Syrian air space. The fighter crashed into the sea and both pilots died. This lead to Turkey revising its ROE stating that it would consider all "military elements" approaching from Syria an enemy threat and would act accordingly.




Turkish Air Force RF-4E serial number 69-7514 is an ex-Luftwaffe Phantom ( German serial 35+67 ) transferred to Turkey in 1993. A similar aircraft was shot down by Syria in 2012. Photo : Turkish Air Force

 On 16 Sep 2013 it was payback time when a Syrian Mi-17 helicopter ventured just one mile into Turkish territory when it was shot down by a Turkish F-16C. It crashed one kilometer inside the Syrian boarder.

The next major incident occurred on 23 Mar 2014 when a Syrian MiG-23 Flogger strayed just a little into Turkey and promptly got hosed down, again by F-16 fighters.




A Russian MiG-23 Flogger armed with AA-7 and AA-8 air-to-air missiles. A similar Syrian aircraft was shot down by the Turks in 2014. Source RSK MiG.

So, as one can observe, these boarder zones are extremely dangerous for aircrafts with both sides being highly on the edge just waiting for the other to commit a small mistake and have an excuse for taking down the opponent. Turkey especially, has been acting tough and had repeatedly made good their threats of shooting down violators of their sovereign air space.

Latest Shooting Down Incident

On 24 Nov 2015, a Russian Air Force Su-24M Fencer bomber operating out of Syria's Hmeimim Air Field was on a bombing mission near the Turkish boarder when according to Turkey, it strayed into Turkish air space to a depth of 2.19km, an incursion that lasted for a mere 17 seconds. It was fired upon by a F-16 fighter when it failed to respond to at least 10 repeated warnings within a 5 minute period to change course. These warnings were of course transmitted on radio over guard frequency. Guard is the aircraft emergency frequency reserved for communications when aircrafts are in distress or during an emergency. The frequencies are 121.5MHz for civilian aircrafts ( aka International air distress or VHF Guard ) and 243.0MHz for military aircrafts ( aka Military Air Distress or UHF Guard ).

Russia however, denied that the Fencer ever ventured into the said Turkish territory, a wedge-shaped piece of land jutting southwards into Syria measuring about 6km at its widest. It maintained that the bomber was returning to Hmeimim and flew within 1 kilometer of the Syrian boarder at all times when it was shot at an altitude of 6000m. Instead Russia counter-claimed that the Turkish F-16 actually made a 2km incursion into Syrian air space when it was attacking the Fencer.





Turkey Defense Ministry's map of Su-24's flight path. Source : Wikipaedia




Russian Defense Ministry's map of the Su-24 flight path. Red line - Su-24, blue line - F-16. Source Wikipaedia



Google Earth Map : the distance between the two red markers denoting the estimated entry and exit points of the Su-24 over Turkish sovereignty is ..... 2.20km!

Just looking at the above maps, I would think that the Russia version is too conveniently neat to be convincing. It could be either doctored or else over simplified. The Turkish version with slightly irregular flight paths are more believable.

What probably happened was the Fencer was over Syrian soil AFTER its brief incursion into Turkey when it was struck by an air-to-air missile fired by the F-16. It would later emerge that the Fencer pilots claimed they did not receive any warnings over the radio and neither did they see the missile coming at them. In other words, they didn't know what hit them.

This could be possible as according to Wikipaedia, the Su-24M's antiquated R-862M VHF/UHF radio may not be able to monitor the military guard frequency without optional equipment which may not have been installed. As the Fencer is a fairly large aircraft with poor visibility from the cockpit, the pilots may not see an incoming missile especially when fired upon from the rear. Being an old aircraft it probably lacks a Missile Approach Warning System ( MAWS ) to guard against heat seeking missiles like the AIM-9X Sidewinder carried by the F-16. Radar Warning Receivers ( RWR ) may or may not provide timely warning against radio-frequency homing missiles as there may be latency between detection and threat identification.

After their plane was hit, both pilots bailed out but were fired upon by Turkmen rebels as they were descending in their parachutes. The flight commander Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Anatolyevich Peshkov was killed by ground fire while his navigator Captain Konstantin Murakhtin survived and was eventually rescued by Russian and Syrian SAR teams. Peshkov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation while Murakhtin and the naval commando who perished in the helicopter attack during the rescue attempt was given the Order of Courage.




The remains of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Anatolyevich Peshkov, Hero of the Russisn Federation, arriving at Chkalovsky Airfield near Moscow. Ivan really knows how to dress warm and look good, even during times of sorrow. Source : Russian Defense Ministry.

A Case of Intractable Trigger Happiness?

Could this unfortunate downing of the Fencer be avoided? Absolutely! When accidents happen, they usually have multiple factors contributing to the final outcome. In this case both Russia and Turkey could have done more to prevent just such an event.

Firstly, Russia should not have sent its bombers so close to a volatile boarder. Patrolling 1 km from the boundary as claimed is stupid. Ever heard of stand-off ordnance? Even if you have to target insurgents near or at the boarder, it could be done at stand-off distances and Russia has no shortage of stand-off weapons, and was even willing to use cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea 1500km away even though it had absolute air-superiority over Syrian skies.

Secondly, in the event the need to fly near the boarder becomes necessary, at least ensure the aircrafts are equipped with the appropriate communications and navigation equipment and the flight crew properly trained to use them. A military aircraft unable to monitoring Military Guard frequency is just unbelievable, what ever the reason. And the upgraded Su-24M are supposed to be GLONASS equipped.

Nobody in the free world believes what Russia says anymore, especially after their denial about direct intervention in Crimea and eastern Ukraine despite glaring evidences indicating otherwise, like the capture of Russian paratroopers deep inside Ukrainian territory. So the Russian claim about the Su-24 never venturing beyond 1km of the Syrian boarder is probably false. In any case, would Turkey dare to shoot down a Russian combat aircraft flying over Syrian territory without provocation? Rather unlikely, I would say, even though the Turkish Air Force is quite powerful, being the world's third largest operator of the F-16 fighter ( with close to 300 mainly advance block 50 version ) after the US and Israel, it is still no match for the might of the Russian Air Force. So I would take the Turkish data as closer to the truth and it indicated that the Fencer violated Turkish air space for a total of 17 seconds and for a flight distance of just 2.19km.

To shoot down an aircraft after such a brief incursion which in all likelihood could be unintentional, some kind of navigational error or a momentary lapse of concentration on the pilot or navigator's part, can only be labeled as extreme trigger happiness if not murder.

Frankly, there are other less lethal ways to resolve this type of boarder incidences including intercepting and escorting the offending aircraft back to where it should belong. Flying along side and making visual contact when radio communications could not be established might be necessary. If all else failed, firing a short burst of cannon rounds across the bow usually would get the attention of the offending aircraft. Ripping it out of the sky should be the last resort.

Turkish President Erdogan had refused to apologise to Russia after the shooting incident, insisting that Turkey reserves the right of self-defense in the event of violations of territory, which in principle is true. Putin on the other hand, believed that the unprovoked shooting is a stab in the back by a supposed ally in the fight against terror. He was so incensed that he accused Turkey of profiting from the illegal trading of oil with ISIL, even claiming direct involvement of Erdogan's family members, and therefore had a reason to protect ISIL oil infrastructure. The spat has now escalated even further as Putin continues to trade verbal blows with Erdogan piling on one insult after another.

Back Stabbing! Satirical illustration from the Sputnik News Agency's
Japanese website depicting Erdogan sneaking up on the Bear.
The Japanese words read TERORISUTO ( terrorist ).

The Aftermath 

As a consequence of the downing of the Fencer, Russia has immediately taken steps to strengthen its air defense capabilities in Syria.

First, the missile cruiser Moskva ( ex-Slava ), flagship of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet, an 11490 ton monster of a warship armed with a total of 64 ( 8 x 8 rotary launchers ) SA-N-6 Grumble long-range surface-to-air missiles was dispatched to the waters off the Syrian coast to provide an air defense umbrella for the Russian strike aircrafts. The SA-N-6, also known as the S-300F Fort, is the navalised version of the S-300P ( NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble ) land based anti-aircraft missile. It has a maximum effective range of 95 miles, enough to cover large portions of northern Syria and southern Turkey.




The Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet with 8 x 8 SA-N-6 Grumble long-range SAM in a 2009 photo. Wikipaedia

Within three days of the downing of the Fencer, Moscow also deployed its most advanced air defense system to Hmeimem Air Base - the S-400 Triumf ( NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler ) surface-to-air missile. Depending on the missile type used, the maximum range for the S-400 system is up to 400km. Although Russia says that the S-400 systems deployed in Syria are not for sale and would be returned to Russia once their mission is over, we know that Russian words count for nothing. I am quite sure the S-400 will stay put in Syria for a very long time, as its is extremely easy to claim that the mission is not yet over, or just simply provoke another incident or shoot down your own aircraft and blame it on enemy fire or whatever, its been done before.




Two S-400 Triumf transporter-erector-launcher units ( Left and Centre ) protected by what looks like a Pantsir S1 air defense system ( Right ) at Hmeimem Air Base in Syria. Source : Sputnik

Also, for the first time since their deployment in Syria, the Su-34 Fullbacks are conducting their bombing raid carrying ground attack ordnance and air-to-air missiles for self-defense. Russia is making it clear to Turkey that any future downing incidences would be met with immediate and lethal respond. The Fullbacks are basically upsized Flankers with a tremendous increase in range and carrying capacity and although optimized for bombings can be used for air combat as well. Below is a video clip from RT showing the Su-34 with the medium-range R-27 ( AA-10 Alamo ) on centre pylon and the short-range R-73 ( AA-11 Archer ) air-to-air missile on outer pylon, in addition to OFAB-500 dumb bombs on the undercarriage and KAB-500 TV-guided aerial bombs ( with glass covered tip ) at the innermost pylon. These spanking new bombers on their first ever combat deployment deserve a separate coverage / article on their own!

In the near future, Russia will likely increase the number of Su-30SM fighters deployed in Syria to ultimately provide fighter escort to all of its bombing sorties especially those conducted near the Turkish boarder or establish some kind of combat air patrol.

Russia also started economic sanctions against Turkey, with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signing a decree prohibiting the importation of food from Turkey and banning chartered flights between the two countries. The ban would apply to produce like fruits and vegetables, poultry and salt and will commence on 1st Jan 2016. Russian citizens have also been advice to refrain from travelling to Turkey unless absolutely necessary by their foreign ministry.

Meanwhile, the skies over Syria becomes ever more crowded and dangerous, with the Royal Air Force now commencing air strikes against ISIL targets within Syrian territory ....




Russian Air Force Su-24M in a 2009 photo. Wikipaedia



Russian Air Force Su-24M at Latakia, Syria, 2015. Wikipaedia



Su-24M taking off at Hmeimim Air Base. Source Russian Defense Ministry