【聯合報╱編譯陳世欽／綜合十二日外電報導】

2007/8/13

俄羅斯正以龐大的石油與天然氣收入為後盾加強武裝，積極重振雄風，循陸海空三路向外投射國力。太平洋、地中海、中亞和北極都成為俄國軍力展示的舞台，前俄國特務李維南科遭毒殺案，也被質疑是冷戰時期莫斯科追殺叛逃人士的手法重現。

俄國展示武力的動作一波接一波，愈來愈讓人無法忽視。俄國總統普亭十一日視察聖彼得堡以北五十公里處的一座新建雷達預警站時表示，俄國的飛彈防禦系統即將升級，這座雷達站是一項大型建設計畫的第一個環節。美國計畫在波蘭與捷克部署飛彈防禦及雷達預警系統，引起俄國的嚴重關切，普亭並稱，俄國將採取必要的反制措施。

上周三，一架俄國戰略轟炸機飛越太平洋，距離關島美軍基地僅幾百公里，駕駛員還和升空攔截的美軍戰機飛行員交換笑容。這類戰略轟炸機非必要的長程飛行任務，在幾年前是不可能發生的事，因為軍方根本沒經費。如今俄國經濟起飛，轟炸機也動起來了。

莫斯科的軍事專家高爾茨表示：「俄國絕不放過恢復軍事大國地位的任何機會，訴求的對象遍及國內外。」

本月二日，一支俄國探險隊在深達四千多公尺的北極海海床插上俄國國旗，以宣揚俄國對北極的主權地位，俄國海軍司令馬索林翌日表示，俄國海軍計畫在東地中海建立「常設基地」。俄國陸軍因為長年對抗車臣叛亂分子而元氣大傷，如今已獲得新式裝備，訓練也更精良；俄國陸軍日前開拔前往新疆，與中共及部分中亞國家的部隊展開聯合軍演，其中六千名參演部隊近日將轉往俄國參加大規模演習。

過去十六年來，美國挾其傲視全球的經濟實力，在國際舞台大肆伸張軍事與外交力量，同時期的俄國則萎靡不振。普亭主政下的俄國逐漸抬頭，俄國民心振奮。高爾茨表示：「對克里姆林宮而言，至少在某一個領域足以與美國抗衡非常重要。克宮意欲展現這方面的實力。」

部分人士認為，重振信心，並積極整軍經武的俄國可能構成威脅。喬治亞共和國最近指控俄國戰機向其領土發射一枚飛彈；前俄國特務李維南科去年底在倫敦疑似遭人毒死一案已演變為英、俄兩國的外交事件。部分人士指出，本案顯示，莫斯科當局已經再度訴諸刺殺海外異議分子的冷戰手法。

俄國政論家尤莉雅‧拉蒂莉娜表示，各國不必對俄國宣揚實力大驚小怪。她說：「我們僅以轟炸機、北極海床插旗之類的方式展現國力，並未意圖掀起戰端，這點值得慶幸。」

Russian Extends Its Claws By Air, Sea, Land

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Posted 08/12/07 15:48

By air, sea and land, the Russian bear’s claws are stretching back into corners of a world that had all but forgotten Moscow as a military superpower.

The latest reminder came this week when Russian strategic Tu-95 bombers flew over the Pacific to within a few hundred kilometers (miles) of the U.S. military base on the island of Guam — and, according to a Russian general, exchanged grins with U.S. fighter pilots sent to intercept.

The dramatic incident August 8 capped a summer in which President Vladimir Putin has sought to project power far and wide, building on a rearmament program fuelled by oil and gas revenues.

“At every opportunity Russia is showing its return to power, including military. It’s a demonstration for two audiences — domestic and for the rest of the world,” Moscow-based military analyst Alexander Goltz told AFP.

The long-distance flight by the strategic bombers, impossible for years because of severe underfunding, also recalled an incident in July when bombers deployed near Scotland and Norway during a diplomatic row with Britain.

And it’s not just in the skies that Russia wants the world to take notice.

On August 2 Russian explorers descended 4,261 metres (13,980 feet) under the Arctic to plant a flag on the sea bed and demonstrate in a theatrical fashion Moscow’s contested claim to the mineral-rich territory under the North Pole.

The following day, the navy’s chief of staff suggested reestablishing a full-time Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean for the first time since the Soviet era.

Meanwhile the ground army, which was badly mauled in more than a decade of fighting Chechen rebels, is getting new equipment and improved training.

On August 9 and 10 troops were sent to China’s remote province of Xinjiang for international exercises with Chinese and Central Asian forces, 6,000 of whom will next week be hosted on Russian soil for large-scale drills involving artillery, aircraft and paratroopers.

The surge in activity is welcomed in a country shocked by the way U.S. military and diplomatic might has spread worldwide over the last 16 years, while Russia has retreated.

“For the Kremlin it’s very important to retain at least one area where we equal the United States — and we are adamant about showing this,” Goltz said.

But there are accusations that a newly confident and rearming Russia could be a menace.

The Guam exploit came three days after Russia’s southern neighbor Georgia claimed a Russian warplane fired a missile onto its territory — something Moscow hotly denies.

The scandal over the murder last year in London of fugitive Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko also prompted claims that Moscow was resurrecting the Cold War-era practice of killing dissidents abroad.

Russia’s generals deny they are up to anything sinister.

The highlight of the Guam mission, says the commander of strategic bombers, Pavel Androsov, was a mid-air greeting between Russian and US pilots — a scene reminiscent of the macho 1986 Hollywood film “Top Gun.”

“Imagine, you take off from Blagoveshchensk, fly for 13 hours, flying across neutral waters, then our planes meeting their NATO colleagues ... with a mutual exchange of smiles,” he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

The Pentagon confirmed the Russian mission, but denied that a close encounter took place. “It was a non-event,” one official said on condition of anonymity.

Political commentator Yuliya Latynina said there was nothing to fear from Russia’s muscle-flexing.

“Thank God. We are showing our strength with bombers, the North Pole flag, et cetera, but we are not making war,” she said. “We should be happy that the strategic bombers flew across the Pacific without losses. That’s already a victory.”