Russian warships maneuver against NATO aircraft carriers — 100 NATO jets remain on high alert

Russian Navy cruisers moved to counter Western ships in the Mediterranean as U.S. and NATO forces begin taking up positions for a potential conflict over Ukraine.

Three Russian guided-missile boats have been distributed across the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea to counter three NATO aircraft carrier formations, according to the U.S. Naval Institute News.

Each of the three 11,500 ton Slava-class cruisers carries 16 SS-N-12 Sandbox anti-ship cruise missiles. The Slava and Sandbox were developed in the 1970s to overwhelm aircraft carriers with a barrage of the high-speed cruise missiles, each of which is “about the size of a telephone pole,” reported USNI News.

Military officials assured reporters that the Aegis cruisers and destroyers accompanying the Western carriers have more sophisticated missile defense systems that outmatch the older Russian weapons.

“We operate in and around the Russians and the Chinese all the time. So this is nothing new,” Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, said when asked about the Russian cruisers.

The Russian maneuvers come as Russian President Vladimir Putin mourned the break-up of the Soviet Union in a speech on Tuesday.

“I would like to repeat that the Soviet Union was established in the place of the former Russian Empire in 1922,” Putin said according to the official English transcript. “The disintegration of our united country was brought about by the historic, strategic mistakes on the part of the Bolshevik leaders and the [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] leadership, mistakes committed at different times in state-building and in economic and ethnic policies. The collapse of the historical Russia known as the USSR is on their conscience.”

U.S. and NATO officials responded to the speech and outlined the precautions each had taken.

“He directly attacked Ukraine’s right to exist. He indirectly threatened territory formerly held by Russia, including nations that today are thriving democracies and members of NATO,” President Joe Biden said from the White House on Tuesday. “And there's no question that Russia is the aggressor.

“We have over 100 jets at high alert,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "And there are more than 120 Allied ships at the sea, from the High North to the Mediterranean. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to shield the alliance from aggression.”