title: Russian maritime strategy since the Ukrainian crisis
abstract: Relations between the West and Russia have markedly deteriorated since 2014 as a result of the annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine, Western sanctions, Russian intervention in Syria, and perceived interference in electoral processes in the U.S. as well as a number of EU states. Despite near-constant decline in capabilities since the end of the Soviet Union, Russia remains a significant naval power, second by tonnage after the U.S. and third in number of ships after the U.S. and China, though