Thread by @jseldin

#Russia's war vs #Ukraine - "The Russian navy has survived this war largely intact" per @USNavy Office of Naval Intelligence Commander RADM Michael Studeman told @INSAlliance Wednesday

"The Russian navy., although losing its flagship there in the #BlackSea, continues to fire cruise missiles at a certain pace w/ships & submarines that remain fairly close to the #Crimea" per RADM Studeman

"The #Ukrainians are looking for ways & have come up w/very innovative maritime techniques to be able to make life hard for the #Russia|n aggressors & that give & take will continue for some time" per RADM Studeman

#Ukraine grain exports out of #BlackSea ports - "The maritime routes have been obviously constrained" per RADM Studeman

"The Russians continue to play a game of throttling the amount of exports...via inspections north of the #Bosporus"

#Ukraine grain exports being throttled by #Russia - "They [Russia] meter those make life very difficult for throughput there even having agreed to the #BlackSea. grain initiative initiative" per RADM Studeman

#Russia naval activity in the high north-"They've militarized that area" per RADM Studeman

"They aim to structure themselves w/lots of weaponry, lots of capability, essentially from the #KaraSea all the way to the #BeringSea"

#Russia has 3 Severodvinsk-class (SSGN) nuclear power submarines deployed, more being built

"They have started doing their patrols in the #Atlantic holding the #UnitedStates at risk in some of their patrol areas. And they recently moved one into the Pacific" per RADM Studeman

"The #Russia|n [naval] threat & the way they intend to use their force for a variety of different purposes remains of deep concern" per RADM Studeman

Move by #Sweden, #Finland to join @NATO -w/boost to NATO's maritime capabilities- will help "make sure that #Russia thinks twice about advancing anywhere else on its periphery" per RADM Studeman

"Here, the stakes have to be higher because deterrence failed in #Ukraine" per RADM Studeman "And so the intent is for it not to fail anywhere else there on the western flank of #Russia"

#Sweden #Finland @NATO

Who was behind the sabotage of the #Nordstream pipelines 1&2 in September 2022?

"There are still some unknowns there" per RADM Studeman "The sabotage is confirmed based on what we know so far but we haven't ruled out any guilty party at this stage of the game"