As if to underline the heightened tension between Russia and the Western powers at present, Russia sent its sole aircraft carrier and an accompanying fleet through the English Channel on Sunday, probably on its way to deliver more fighter bombers to Syria for a more attacks on Aleppo. Nato called the fleet Russia's largest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War.
This month has brought a deepening divergence between the United States and Russia after the US suspended their talks on Syria over Russia's continued bombing of rebel-held eastern Aleppo. President Putin responded by withdrawing from an agreement for each side to dispose of 34 tons of plutonium used in nuclear weapons.
Russia's active defence of Syria's Assad regime and America's support for the rebels becomes ever more dangerous. If this is not yet causing public alarm in the West, it is a different story in Russia where state television channels have been asking viewers whether they know the location of their nearest bomb shelter.
Last month the country conducted a nationwide civil defence exercise, preparing 40 million people for potential catastrophes including nuclear war, and last week Russia announced it was moving nuclear-capable ballistic missiles into Kaliningrad, its detached territory next to Poland, where they are within reach of Western cities.
All of this is probably mere posturing, mainly in the hope of influencing the US presidential election, now just two weeks away. Vladimir Putin has every reason to prefer the winner to be Donald Trump. Not just because Trump has threatened to weaken Nato unless America's alliance partners shoulder a greater share of their own defence, but also because Hillary Clinton seems likely to adopt a more aggressive policy towards Russia in Syria and elsewhere than Trump or Barrack Obama.
