Russia becomes dying empire amid strategic nuclear decline - military experts

Experts from the Defense Information Consortium, which brings together analysts and research organizations, told Espreso TV.

“The destruction of a third of Russia's strategic aviation, as well as the destruction of the Moskva missile cruiser in the Black Sea, demonstrates the discrepancy between Russia's declared status as “one of the poles” of the real state of affairs,” their analysis says.

Obviously, both Washington (and, most importantly, Trump's inner circle) and Beijing may finally realize that Putin has no reason to claim any global role, and that his mythology of a “Great Russia” with global nuclear capabilities is just a bluff by post-Soviet elites in the Kremlin. Under these circumstances, the mention by representatives of the US administration of the possibility of a “third world war” and nuclear strikes by the Russian Federation in response to resolute opposition to Russian aggression will look at least frivolous. This, in turn, will encourage American politicians to put pressure on Trump to use force against Putin (both sanctions and in a broader sense). 

In addition, the United States can no longer perceive Russia as a “new USSR.” The loss of strategic nuclear force components and the inability to restore them finally turn Russia into a dying empire that should be treated according to this paradigm, the Consortium states.

In turn, China will perceive the destruction of Russian strategic aviation as a positive factor in its relations with Moscow: in addition to the objective strategic weakening of the Russian Federation (which is in the interests of China, which sees Russia as its own resource appendage and proxy for performing “dirty” tasks in its confrontation with the United States), Beijing will receive concrete benefits in terms of increased influence in the defense industry of the Russian Federation. It is possible that joint military-technical projects will be built up under the auspices of “restoring the defense capabilities” of the Russian army.

According to experts, in the longer term, Russia's loss of one of the most important elements of strategic influence at both the regional and global levels will allow China to build a new configuration of balances in the Asia-Pacific region, taking a dominant role.

• Russia will likely find it difficult to replace the aircraft that Ukrainian forces damaged and destroyed during the Spider's Web special operation. It has not produced Tu-95 or Tu-22M3 aircraft since 1991