Secret war behind the scenes of Ukraine crisis

It appears that the actual Ukraine war is a kind of scenery, behind which another war is waged, a “war of prestige & humiliation” between three top leaders of current great powers – Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping.

This war is full of secret operations, bluff, red herrings, smoke and mirrors; usually neither party admits anything – no wins, no defeats; the purpose is to maximize the public (or covered) humiliation to the opponent. It is important to realize and internalize what kind of “total war”, the three great powers – the US, China, Russia – are waging every day worldwide.

So, let’s try to list some of those secret incidents, which have taken place during Ukraine war and study closer the last three incidents, case “Kinzal”, case “MQ-9 Reaper” and case “ICC”.

Period Feb.2022 – Feb. 2023

In the first moths of the Ukraine crisis (February – April 2022), the West organized numerous economic punitive measures. Along with sanctions, two robust actions were in the start. More info about these topics can be found in my article “Ukraine crisis, updated Big Picture”, August 11, 2022.

Freezing and confiscating the funds abroad of Russian Central Bank, approx. $ 300 billion, which can be seen as a largest bank heist in history.  This illegal political measure has accelerated de-dollarization process worldwide and Russia has started the confiscation process of western investment and property in Russia. The western measure is badly backfiring and the banking crisis in March 2023 (particularly Credit Suisse) is the real evidence of that.

Private property protection lawshave also suspended asabroad-located private property of large number of Russian private persons has been seized in absence of any due legal process. The West assumed this will harm “Putin’s war machine” but in reality, the situation was upside down. The relations between Russian rich oligarchs and Putin have always been very tense and Putin has kept them as “traitors”. This measure by the West caused that oligarchs started to repatriate their wealth back to Russia, and this was just what Putin wanted to happen. In other words, a total misunderstanding and failure by the West.

The Turning Point of September 2022: partial mobilizations and four referendums in Russia, Ukraine counteroffensives and NATO wide-range and deepening involvement in war operations, prolonged war of attrition, industrial warfare and NATO’s depleting deposits, aiming for new world order.

Nord Stream 1,2 detonations, September 26, 2022. Cui bono? This subject has been studied in my articles: Gas for Europe, European pipeline game, October 10, 2022; Lights off in Ukraine, October 17, 2022; Autumn Potpourri 2022, November 3, 2022; Enigma of Nord Stream pipelines, February 12, 2023. It seems to be highly likely that the Biden administration is the main culprit behind NS detonation, other participants would be UK, Norway and Sweden.

Crimea Bridge (Kerch bridge) terror strike, on Saturday, October 8, when a cargo truck exploded on the Crimean Bridge early in the morning, causing seven fuel tanks of the train to catch fire. Two automobile spans of the bridge partially collapsed. Three people were killed in this explosion. The strike was carried out by the SBU – Ukrainian special services with the help and support of British secret service. More info about this case can be found in the article: Lights off in Ukraine, October 17, 2022.

Attack on the Black Sea Fleet based in Sevastopol, October 29. In total 9 UAVs and 7 British unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) targeted the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels. The operation was coordinated by the US-made RQ-4B Global Hawk reconnaissance UAV, which has been circling over the Black Sea. A few hours after the attack, Russia identified the culprits. British navy specialists located in the town Ochakov in the Mykolaiv region coordinated the preparation of the attack and trained Ukrainian servicemen of the 73rd Special Center for Naval Operations. More info about this case can be found in the article: Autumn Potpourri 2022, November 3, 2022.

Ukraine’s false flag incident was on November 15, after Ukraine accidentally bombed Poland. The incident happened as Ukrainian forces were trying to intercept incoming Russian missiles. Instead of shooting down the Russian missile, Kiev’s S-300 malfunctioned and ended up dropping into Poland, where it killed two people. The Ukrainian leadership decided to propagate the most dangerous conspiracy theory in an attempt to literally spark worldwide war. Zelensky lied to the world by describing his forces’ accidental bombing of Poland as “a Russian missile strike on collective security” and telling NATO that “We need to act.” President Biden stopped this spiral. More info can be found in the article: Current situation in Ukraine crisis, November 30, 2022

Missile strikes by AFU to Russian two air forces base, on December 5 and 6. The strikes were carried by Tu-141 (old Soviet drones), which were reconditioned and converted by Ukrainian and American technicians into cruise missiles, fitted with new guidance systems and directed by American satellites, Ukraine itself does not have the capability to guide missiles on its own. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s claimed on Tuesday, Nov 6, that the United States had nothing to do with Ukraine’s missile strike against Russian air force bases. All technical studies unambiguously prove that Tu-141 drones that Ukraine launched at Russian air bases downlinked US satellite GPS data to hit their targets. More info can be found in the article: The US, Ukraine crisis and the context of great powers, December 8, 2022.

A base of Ukrainian submariners on the island of Maisky, in the vicinity of city of Nikolaev, was hit by Russian artillery on February 25, 2023. UK military instructors had been preparing underwater drones for attacks on Russia’s military ships. The explosion was very powerful and was “detonating for a long time,” meaning that the local ammunition warehouse had been completely destroyed. Obviously, a number of UK military instructors were killed. More info available here.

Small scale or lower-level incidents have been, inter alia, Darya Dugina’s assassination by car-bomb in late August, AFU’s alleged “dirty bomb” case late-October and several strikes by AFU on Zhaporozhye NPP. In the Pacific theater, a recent episode was Nancy Pelosi’s visit in Taiwan, summer 2022.

Period since the start of March 2023

Case “Kinzal”, on March 9

I made an extra update on March 12: Extra update to the article of March 11, 2023 , where was stated that in the latest Russian air strike, March 9:

Now, there are news from different sources that some Kinzal missile (or missiles) have hit that NATO Command Center in the vicinity of Lviv (in western Ukraine) and caused a disaster to NATO forces in Ukraine. Based on these pieces of news, tens even up to 200 of NATO (= US and UK) officers have been killed and irreversible damage has been made to NATO operations in Ukraine. The bunker was 80 meters deep control and planning center and was protected by Iris-R and NASAMS air defense systems, which all became destroyed by the strike.

More pieces of news have been emerging from this incidence and the picture begins to take shape.

Russia finally admits to destroying NATO’s deep underground Command Bunker in Ukraine. On March 12, the Greek portal of political and military information Pronews, citing American sources, reported a Russian hypersonic missile “Kinzal” struck a joint Ukrainian-NATO command and communications center near Lviv in Ukraine. Also, The Intel Drop reported about this incident here, here and here.

According to Pronews, “dozens of NATO officers” were killed in a “terrifying strike” by a Mach 12 missile. In all likelihood, we are talking about the defeat of the “shadow General Staff” of NATO in Ukraine. The secret underground bunker, built at a depth of 400 feet (120 meters), housed several NATO officers and advisers. In total, more than 300 people. To date, according to the portal, 40 people have been pulled out from under the rubble of the underground headquarters, but most of those who died under the rubble have not yet been found.

It is not known, the portal continues, exactly how many Western citizens and how many Ukrainians were killed as a result of the “Kinzal” strike. “Most of them are British and Poles, but there were also Americans and representatives of private companies that support communication and data transmission. In the coming days, it will be seen to what extent this will affect the conduct of Ukrainian and Western operations and attempts to stop the final phase of the Russian offensive on Bakhmut.

Ukraine remains silent about the defeat of the NATO bunker and the death of Western servicemen. However, information in the Ukraine that a delegation of the General Staff of Ukraine visited American Embassy in Kiev, presumably to transfer lists of Americans killed in the strike. This, is the first such large-scale strike against the military personnel of NATO countries and it is not known how the Western capitals will react to this, although in the event of a reaction, it would be like recognizing the active participation of military personnel in the war against Russia.

The use of hypersonic missiles has heightened US anxiety and demonstrated that Russia has a hard-to-intercept nuclear-capable weapon, the Washington Post said . The United States has not yet been able to develop its own missiles with similar characteristics, which makes Western countries even more vulnerable, the authors of the material concluded. Kinzhal is the latest Russian system with hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles carried by specially equipped MiG-31K interceptors. The missile has low radar visibility and high maneuverability and is designed to destroy land and sea targets. 

The Kinzal strike has disclosed some fundamental facts about this new weapon and its strategic significance:

• Russia’s Kinzhal and other hypersonic missiles (like Zircon) make NATO’s entire military posture very vulnerable, Russia can destroy it all, underground bases, aircraft carriers and anything else
• Russia can build dozens of hypersonic missiles a week, their design is based on the Iskandar and use key components in mass production for other systems, yearly production amounts up to 2000 missiles
• those missiles shot down by NATO/Ukraine were and have been all target drones, Soviet-era flyable scrap or cheap copy production that exists in not the thousands but tens of thousands

On March 9 North Korea and Russia both conducted the largest launches of hypersonic ballistic missiles on record, the former as part of a show of force into the Yellow Sea in response to major US-led military exercises near its borders and the latter into Ukraine as part of its ongoing war effort in the country. In North Korea’s case the missile in question was the KN-23, a design first unveiled in 2018 shortly after the United States deployed THAAD missile systems to South Korean territory. The Russian barrage on March 9 was conducted using the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air launched ballistic missile, which was first introduced into service in 2017. Like North Korea six missiles were launched, indicating a major escalation, with Russia having refrained from using the high value munitions in large numbers in the Ukrainian theatre in the past.

The US Air Force has recently increased the activity of its strategic bombers near the borders of Russia and Iran. It appears that these activities have something to do with the Russian Kinzal strike in Ukraine.

On March 11, the US strategic bomber B-52H Stratofortress, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, worked out a missile launch on the Russian city of St. Petersburg. The aircraft with the board sign NOBLE61 approached the island of Gotland, which is about 200 km from the Russian northern capital. It took off from Poland, not reaching the borders with the Russian Federation, made a detour in the Gulf of Finland and flew in the southern direction.

On March 12, a similar US aircraft with the board sign NOBLE71 capable of carrying nuclear missiles simulated another strike on Iran. It approached the Iranian southern board and was spotted over the territory of Saudi Arabia. According to the local reports, the board “entered the course of combat use of cruise missiles with a nuclear warhead, after which it turned back.” High activity of US reconnaissance aircraft was also noticed in the region. Most likely, they monitored the possible work of Iran’s air defense and recorded the “success” of a virtual strike on Tehran.

As such, an American B-52 strategic bomber flying over the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg does not pose a threat to Russian air defense but the United States pursued a different goal. In itself, the aircraft like the B-52 is an absolutely defenseless target vs. modern air defense system. 

Already in the early 1980s, it was clear that the time of such bombers as a strike force had passed and they have long since passed into the state of carriers of long-range cruise missiles, which became their main weapon system. In this case, they do not need to enter the territory of Europe. Usually, the launch is carried out one and a half or even two and a half thousand kilometers from the target.

No doubt, this flight was for a political reason. Apparently, the Biden administration decided to let their allies know that all the power of America, expressed in a plane made in the late 1950s, is still with Europe. For the intra-European agenda, such a step could be quite successful – there are only few people, who are able to adequately assess the military sides. For the majority of ordinary people, it was an important show of force. So, the goal is most likely achieved.

The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov, equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, has seriously disturbed the US military with its appearance off Bermuda, a week ago. The success of the Russian Federation in the development of hypersonic weapons (Kinzal, Zircon, others) is forcing the Pentagon to speed up its own development of this modern type of weapon. The leadership of the US Navy is seriously concerned about the lag in the field of hypersonics from Russia. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov, meanwhile, has completed its cruise in the Atlantic Ocean and is currently preparing for joint exercises with the South African and Chinese navies in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

I have studied the topic “hypersonics” on my website in some articles: here and here.

Case “MQ-9 Reaper”

Russian fighter jet forces down US drone over Black Sea on Tuesday (March 14) after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to the US military. The Reaper drone and two Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying over international waters over the Black Sea, when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the unmanned drone several times, a statement from US European Command said.

“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in the statement. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

Thus, according to American narrative: The Russian interceptors dumped fuel on the drone, which lost control and crashed into the international waters of the Black Sea, also the drone went down because ‎one of the Russian jets struck the propeller – a claim that Russia denied. EuCom (the command of the United States Military Forces in Europe) ordered its operators in Romania to destroy the drone. ‎The US and Russian armies are both actively searching for the debris of the spy drone. Moscow’s intention is to gain access to the data logging.

Russian Ministry of Defense has issued a statement addressing exactly this:

• On the morning of March 14 this year. over the waters of the Black Sea in the area of the Crimean Peninsula, the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the flight of an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle in the direction of the State Border of the Russian Federation;
• The flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle was carried out with the transponders turned off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace, established for the purpose of conducting a special military operation, communicated to all users of international airspace and published in accordance with international standards;
• In order to identify the intruder, fighters from the air defense forces on duty were raised into the air. As a result of sharp maneuvering around 9.30 (Moscow time), the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface;
• Russian fighter jets did not use airborne weapons, did not come into contact with an unmanned aerial vehicle and safely returned to their base airfield.

To sum up Russian point of view: “US drones gather intelligence, which is later used by the Kiev regime to attack Russian Armed Forces and territory. The US MQ-9 drone fell in the Black Sea as a result of engaging in sharp maneuvering and the Russian fighter jets sent to intercept it did not come into contact with it nor used weapons against it. The flight was carried out with the aircraft’s transponder turned off, violating the boundaries of the area (Crimean Peninsula).”

While the US State Department has declared that the US will continue to fly missions in international airspace, the Commander of US forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli has ordered all MQ-9 Reaper operations to be halted pending a review of the incident and a decision on how best to proceed.

Background of case Reaper

Even before Russia initiated the Special Military Operation (SMO), in February 2022, the US, the UK and NATO began a program of intelligence sharing with the Ukrainian armed forces at the highest levels. Every available intelligence collection platform is being used to gather relevant data about Russian military operations in support of SMO. It is also clear that this intelligence is used by joint operational planning cells comprised of US/NATO/Ukrainian forces to develop targets in real time, which are then transmitted to Ukrainian forces.

One of the more ubiquitous intelligence resources employed by the US in support of Ukraine is the drone, MQ-9 Reaper. The MQ-9 is a large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by the Air Force. It is remotely operated by a two-person team from a ground control station that is connected to the MQ-9 using satellite equipment. The MQ-9 Reapers operating over the Black Sea are flown out of a Romanian Air Force base in Campia Turzii by members of the US Air Force’s Expeditionary Operations Group.

On March 14, 2023, an MQ-9 Reaper operating out of Campia Turzii was flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, west of Crimea. Russian military had declared certain areas off the coast of Crimea as being off limits but the US does not recognize Russia’s claim to Crimea and does not recognize any claim regarding the establishment of no-fly zones by Russia in support of its ongoing military operations against Ukraine. The decision to fly the MQ-9 Reaper was made knowing Russia would object or worse. Indeed, Russia dispatched a pair of Su-27 fighter aircraft to intercept the MQ-9 Reaper. After one particular incident, the MQ-9 lost control and crashed into international waters off the coast of Crimea.

Importance of the incidence

The incident marks the first time Russian and US military aircraft have come into direct physical contact since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago and is likely to increase tensions between the two nations, with US calling Russia’s actions “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional.” Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said that Russia does not want “confrontation” between his country and the US after he was summoned to the State Department following the downing of the drone.

The US has admitted to providing Ukraine with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information in the conflict against Russia, while insisting it is not a party to the hostilities. US and NATO spy aircraft routinely fly over the Black Sea and approach Crimea, sometimes just before Ukrainian forces launch attacks on the Russian peninsula. American drones have been directly involved in combat operations using “international waters”, which is not a legal protection for attacks on Russian territory. The Pentagon routinely uses the phrase “unsafe and unprofessional” to describe incidents when interceptors chase off US drones, spy planes or fighter jets that come too close to the Russian border. 

This incident can be seen as an important escalatory “red line” step by Russian command. They are demonstrating the limits of their patience to the US. The MQ-9, which was downed is not the primary threat by a long shot—the far more powerful RQ-4 Global Hawk, which also does the rounds in that area, has much more powerful instruments/sensors for scanning and providing target data on Crimea and the outlying region. However, it should be noted, the cost of the MQ-9 Reaper is somewhere north of $100,000,000 for the full package, which is nearly triple the cost of the Su-27 which brought it down. So, it is a serious loss.

Flight tracking specialists FlightRadar24 state they could not track this particular MQ-9 Reaper, which means it was not using an active transponder. That means it was likely involved in a much darker, more critical ongoing mission than the “usual routine” stuff done daily. This is likely the reason Russian command downed this bird. Even the more powerful RQ-4 typically flies with transponders on and can be seen doing their standard tracks on various sites like FR24. This means US was attempting “something special” with this Reaper.

One possible explanation to the downing of Reaper is that the Russians used some kind of electronic weapon system that disabled the drone and caused it to crash. Russia does not want to release any footage that would show the drone being disabled.

Obviously, this action was planned by Russia in advance. They chose the time and place to bring the drone down because they had their naval recovery vessels already in place to pick up the wreckage. If Russia recovers the intelligence sensors on that bird it will be able to analyze and develop counter measures to hinder future collection. The US and NATO are going to rethink their use of drones in the Black Sea area of operations. Russia laid down a clear marker that it is not going to allow untrammeled intelligence collection that can be used for planning and operations against Russian forces.

On March 15, at the initiative of the American side, telephone talks were held between Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, following the telephone conversation between General Valery Gerasimov (Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces) and General Mark Milley (Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff). The main focus was an exchange of views on the causes and consequences of the 14 March incident involving a US UAV crash in the Black Sea.

Recovering the wreckage

Moscow will attempt to recover the wreckage of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone that fell into the Black Sea on Tuesday, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, has announced. He admitted that he doesn’t know, if it will be possible to reach to the remains of the UAV but stressed that it was important to make an effort to find and study the wreckage.

Some sources report, two days later, that Russian Black Sea fleet has already fished out the MQ-9. The drone was only 60km southwest of Sevastopol, which allowed them to get it quickly. Russia may retrieve the US MQ-9 Reaper drone from the Black Sea, despite reports from Washington that the Pentagon has already erased all sensitive information from it. There can be a lot of technical info and data left in the wreckage.

The Biden administration signaled that it had already taken steps to retrieve the remains of the drone, while the Pentagon informed the US press that it managed to wipe sensitive software from the Reaper remotely. However, they are not sure that this operation was really successfully completed, removing all these codes and other secret information. It could fail due to technical failures, since the drone was already falling, perhaps there were already problems with the power supply on board the device.

The video released by the US Department of Defense on the alleged incident that occurred on the Black Sea on Tuesday 14 March seems to be quite suspicious. There is no geolocation and numerous details in video arise questions of photo manipulation.

Russian released the video of its fighter alongside the downed Reaper, which was equipped with a top advanced and secret surveillance system, The Gordon Stare. This proves that the MQ-9 Reaper is from one of the latest and most advanced series, equipped with a highly advanced/sensitive electronics suite.

Along with the Gorgon Stare, the drone had a variety of sensors which could do everything from record pinpoint video footage, thermal footage, Synthetic Aperture Radar snapshots of Russian bases/assets, record electronic emissions and signal data from Russian command HQ’s (C3), radar sites, and their positions.

China, Russia and Iran have had development problems in this matter, where the US has had a clear advantage. If Russia now manages to recover even parts of this system, it will be a significant damaging blow to the US.

It is believed that Russian forces from Crimea recovered most, if not all, the wreckage, including the top-secret intelligence pod that had been mounted under the left wing of the aircraft. If this is the case, critical US intelligence collection capabilities would have been compromised, allowing Russia to better protect itself from sensors like the one carried onboard the downed MQ-9 Reaper aircraft.

Ominous views of Reaper takedown

Russia’s downing of US drone could be first salvo of coming Crimea battle that will drag US dangerously deeper into the war. The Russians know that Ukraine is planning a Spring offensive, for which it is reportedly marshaling some 40,000 troops. The target is almost certainly Crimea (statements by US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland).

The US is behind the planning and organization of the anticipated Ukrainian offensive. Its purposes are to quickly overrun Crimea and to take pressure off the Ukrainian army in the Donbas area, which is now losing ground steadily to the Russian army, local forces and Wagner Group paramilitary forces. The battle for Bakhmut is in its final days, and if Ukraine loses it will be both a strategic and major psychological defeat for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  While US officials keep telling the public and their NATO allies that Ukraine is winning the war, the truth is the reverse.

But Ukraine will have serious problems launching a new offensive, even if US officials (including Nuland) are pushing hard for it to happen. Launching an offensive in Crimea would force Russia to redeploy some of its forces, now large uncommitted reserve force of around 200,000 to 300,000 men. Those reserves are now deployed in Russia near Ukraine’s border, mainly in the east. They have been training for around five months.

US operators must be aware that Ukraine’s offensive could fail. One of the likely reasons the Reaper was operating off the coast of Crimea would have been to target precisely Russian assets there, especially artillery and air defenses but also command centers and communications. By taking out the Reaper on March 14, the Russians are making it clear that these targeting and attack assets will be targeted and destroyed by the Russian Air Force.

Whether Ukraine will risk everything in an attack on Crimea is uncertain, although Washington is pushing it and making preparations. Would the US intervene to help the Ukrainians with airpower or airborne forces, if the offensive starts to fail? Biden and his advisors are clearly frightened about the political fallout, if the hundred billion committed to Ukraine don’t achieve the promised victory.

Republican voices are already being raised in opposition to the war. Former president Donald Trump says the war could have been avoided, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis says Ukraine is not a US strategic interest and that the US should not be taking sides in a dispute between the Russians and Ukrainians. The Washington pro-war consensus is now wobbly. After the Bakhmut fight is over, that consensus may completely evaporate.

The Reaper incident, therefore, is much more than just an errant downing of an unmanned “innocent” aircraft.  It is a very dangerous moment for all the parties, especially the US and NATO, and no one knows how reckless the “neocon Washington” may be under the escalating circumstances.

Case “ICC”

The latest of these humiliation activities is of yesterday. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, the court said in a statement on Friday, March 17.

The statement said they could be responsible “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” Moscow has denied the allegations and denounced the warrants as “outrageous”.

US President Joe Biden has welcomed the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant against his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move, as the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects without the co-operation of a country’s government. Russia is not an ICC member country, meaning the court, located in The Hague, has no authority there. Majority of “big powers” are not under the ICC jurisdiction, neither the US.

Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and considers its decisions null and void, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, commenting on the body’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We consider the very formulation of the issue outrageous and unacceptable. Russia, as well as several other states, do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for Russia in terms of law,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

It is important to notice that this endeavor was made just few days after “the Kinzal case” and “Reaper case”. It is quite obvious who were behind of this arrangement, especially when it was and has been known already some time that Xi Jinping is going to visit Moscow and meet Putin on March 22-22.

Too many “positive wins” have/had occurred to Russian side (disclosing the US as culprit of NS detonation, Kinzal case, Reaper case), simply something “counter-balancing” must have been organized and this time it was ICC case.