Empire of the Ring

On TV news, the currently on-going battle in Luhansk in the eastern part of Ukraine was broadcasting. Located in the easternmost place of Ukraine, Luhansk was bordered by western Russia. It was majorly populated by Russians.

Since 2014, people of Luhansk declared independence from Ukraine as it renamed the place as Luhansk People’s Republic. It was a still on-going dispute.

When other countries were strained by the situation in the Crimean Peninsula, an unexpected battle between the Ukrainian military and the militia broke out.

Watching the news, Youngho and Jong-il were puzzled.

They were not sure if this was what Russia was truly after. Maybe the whole situation had been a cheap scheme. Russia had drawn everyone’s attention to the Crimean Peninsula by installing air defense missiles when what it was truly after was to help the independence movement of Luhansk.

Anyone knew that the independence militia would have acted on its own without Russia’s support. Since the dispute had been going on for a while, it was less obvious to the public eye that it was manipulated by Russia. Youngho called different people to figure out what was really going on.

“Chief. This is far from what Yaniv had told me.”

“You know, when you want to deceive the enemies, you need to deceive your allies first. I knew it was strange that Russia had been so open about the whole situation. The brown bears are now using cheap tricks.”

Michael was startled by Russia’s action that went beyond his expectations.

The global society had no reason to oppose this now. This was well disguised as one of the frequent ethnic disputes in eastern Europe.

The installation of missiles in the Crimean Peninsula was now pushed to the side and the collision between Luhansk’s militia and Ukraine’s military was at the center of people’s attention.

“I have no clue. Even if we had evidence, we’ll have no say in this. Jeez. It’s only the U.S. that made a huge fuss out of this.”

“But at least Russia was shaken by the U.S.”

“No. I bet Putin never even blinked.”

Michael might be true.

By the international law, Russia could exert its power over the Crimean Peninsula although it was Ukrainian territory since residents of the peninsula had voted to be annexed by Russia. It was not done forcefully.

Russia would try to deny that it had no influence over the Luhansk battle.

Since most of the residents in the eastern border of Ukraine were Russians, it was natural that they did not like to be ruled under the Ukrainian government.

“Chief. So, the Crimean situation is going to be closed for now?”

“Do you think Russia will stop after winning over the Crimean Peninsula? Starting from Luhansk, it’s going to slowly take over eastern Ukraine. Can’t you see this?”

“Are you saying Russia is after the whole of Ukraine?”

“Well, at least the eastern part.”

After exchanging conversations enthusiastically, the two sighed at the same time.

“Whoa. The Black Sea will be icy cold for the time being.”

“Whatever you do, you need to take extra caution in times like this.”

Jong-il had a frustrated look on his face as he had been listening to Youngho’s conversation with Michael on the phone.

“What is this? So, we’ll be stuck in the Caspian Sea?”

“Well, we’ve got land routes too. Through Batumi’s port, we’ll deliver things to Azerbaijan.”

“You know how inconvenient that can be. The minerals can’t go anywhere now.”

“Nothing’s been confirmed yet. Let’s hope for the best.”

“Oh, man. This is too stressful that we’ll still have to sail around not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Although Youngho comforted Jong-il, he was as frustrated as his friend.

It would be exhausting to live with the tension. It was the best to be cautious in times like this.

***

“Did you hear?”

Jong-il urgently asked Youngho who just landed at the Arirang Airfield after visiting Almaty’s construction site of the new hotel.

“Hear about what?”

“Man, you’re just too laid back. The Ukrainian force entered Luhansk and is having a street battle against the militia. It’s all over on TV news.”

“It’s finally getting bigger.”

“It’s not just big. They’re having a firefight. Ukraine must be up to something. Otherwise, how do you think it’s pressing this hard?”

“There’s got to be something behind them or they’re just outrageous now.”

Since the Crimean Peninsula was taken away by Russia already, Ukraine could not let Russia steal its eastern part again.

The Volga-Don Canal would be blocked for a while now. It was because the Sea of Azov in the downstream of the canal was divided by Russia and Ukraine that the battle would affect the canal’s operation as well.

“So, I stopped all of the bulk freighter transportation today.”

“Alright. That’s good.”

As Youngho replied to him, his face was sour.

It was because it was difficult to expect to make profits for minerals when bulk freighters were stopped. Moreover, there was a concern for chain bankruptcy of the bulk freighter owners due to nonpayment.

***

As Youngho traveled to Frankfurt for the monthly meeting at the European chapter, he met up with Michael at his office.

“Chief. I don’t believe that Russia went through all this just because it wanted to increase the oil price.”

“The oil price was going to rise anyway since OPEC had taken an action to cut oil production. What Russia’s after is Ukraine. Because it can’t ignore the global opinion, it’s secretly supporting the separation of the eastern region of Ukraine.”

Russia had made it a domestic dispute of Ukraine, so other countries could not get involved in it.

“Poor ship owners’ businesses are at stake because of this.”

Youngho’s mineral export was also stumbling now.

Michael knew exactly why Youngho was feeling sorry.

“Oh, are you talking about yourself?”

“Well, I can store minerals at the wharf. The minerals won’t go anywhere.”

“Our carrier strike groups are standing by on the Mediterranean Sea. Russia would not dare to push further.”

It may sound odd that the U.S. carrier strike groups were not entering the Black Sea but were standing by at the Mediterranean, but not everyone was allowed to enter the Black Sea.

The Black Sea was a neutral territory that was off limits for the battleships of the countries that did not have territory on the coast. Also, Turkey had an authority to block the strait in wartime. This was an international commitment that had been kept since the end of WWI.

The Arirang Shipping was the only entity that was not keeping the commitment. Although not known to the outside, all of its vessels were armed as maritime patrol boats. Youngho wished to install missiles on them but had to suppress his desire.

“Chief, doesn’t the U.S. Navy have battleships disguised as private ships? Why don’t they make one already and sail around freely in the Black Sea?”

Since Youngho had done this, he wondered the U.S. Navy had also thought about doing the same. He also wanted to make a suggestion for the U.S. Navy.

Michael’s reaction surprised Youngho.

“Are you trying to tell me a secret or to make a suggestion?”

He had a keen sense.

He sounded as if he already knew about such vessels.

“You sound like there are such vessels already.”

“No, there’s none. For what would the U.S. Navy risk violating an international agreement? That is a foul play.”

If one was confronted by an enemy in war, he would have to fight for his life and to win no matter what. There was no fair play in this. His reaction was enough to imply that there were such U.S. naval vessels already in the Black Sea.

“You know, there’s a saying in Korea. One that catches the pheasant is a hawk.”

“Is this one of those weird Korean figures of speech?”

“This is not a weird Korean figure of speech. It’s the wisdom of life. If you wish to win, you can’t be tied to the code of a gentleman. You do whatever it takes to win. Are you saying that shooting people with rifles in camouflage is okay and disguising your vessel is not? If you haven’t thought about that, you can suggest this to the Department of National Defense.”

“Oh, please. We are the country that keeps class even if we’re at war.”

It was funny since this came from one of the people who made poison gas and the nuclear bomb.

“I bet Russia also made such vessels.”

“I can’t talk about this anymore.”

Youngho’s continuous nudging made Michael uncomfortable. He waved Youngho off but Youngho did not stop there to see Michael’s reaction.

“Won’t you have to suggest this innovative idea to the higher-ups?”

“Oh, please. Trust me that’s a very old idea. Why don’t you forget about that now and go to Volgograd to meet Yaniv?”

“Whatever he knows is false information from Putin. I don’t have anything to gain from him. It’d be better if we can arm merchant ships in the meantime instead?”

“I said that can’t happen.”

Michael’s reaction was telling Youngho that there were merchant vessels that were disguised by the U.S. military.

He was only refusing to expose it to keep it as classified but apparently, it was not an idea that only Youngho and Jong-il could think of. In the five oceans as well as in the Black Sea, such vessels must have been sailing around from decades ago with missiles hidden in them.

Youngho wondered if the shipyard in the autonomous state could build such ships. The engineers could make any vessel but installing secret missiles under the deck was an advanced technique. It would be impossible without technical skills for advanced weapons.

This meant that he might have to buy a premade vessel that was armed but disguised as a merchant’s vessel from an advanced country. The problem was that no countries would make a vessel upon his request if it was not a request from an ally.

A Russian arms company might do that for him but that was when the war situation was all cleared up and over, but Russia was now taking its hour against Ukraine.

For Russia, it was better to drag the situation since it would make more reflective interest due to the increased oil price and there would be a higher chance that Russia would win over eastern Ukraine.

This would only make the surrounding countries of Russia and their businessmen suffer.

The only country around it that might be smiling was Armenia since the country was a difficult place to live in anyways. Armenia was a country that could not be sustained without donations of Armenian overseas. People of Armenia might feel better about themselves now.

Come to think of it, Youngho had not been paying attention to Armenia for a long time now. When he was pondering about this, he hastily picked up the phone as if he just thought of something.