REUTERS/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE
Russian President Putin watches the launch of a missile during naval exercises in Russia's Arctic North on board the nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), Aug. 17, 2005
- A former Russian navy admiral upped the ongoing war of words between the US and Russia.
- Retired Admiral Vladimir Masorin said Russia would sink the USS Donald Cook if it fired on Syria.
- The Cook is currently in the Mediterranean.
A former Russian navy admiral upped the ongoing war of words between the US and Russia on Friday by saying the Russian navy would sink the USS Donald Cook, a guided-missile destroyer in the region, if it carries out a strike on Syria.
Here's what retired Admiral Vladimir Masorin told Russian television:
"It is unlikely that we will have to sink the Donald Cook. Yet, a torpedo is a very effective weapon that causes considerable damage to a vessel. Clearly, we are going to deal with a lot of pressure, but war is a dangerous thing for the Americans in the first place. They live in a completely different world over there, but we have no fear, we are fed up with the Americans, they are like a burr in the saddle."
Similarly, Syria reportedly promised to defend itself if attacked, though it's unclear what that means, as they have little capability to wage war against the US.
But Russia actually has the means to sink the Cook, as it has a considerable naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, which includes submarines with torpedoes.
However, the assumption that the Cook would strike Syria rather than a US submarine firing Tomahawk missiles from a submerged position, can't be realistically relied upon.
Experts who spoke to Business Insider about the recent military tensions between the US and Syria over Russia have unanimously said that Russia is bluffing, and that they don't want a conventional war with the US, as they would quickly and soundly lose.
US Navy destroyers have already attacked Syria in April 2017 with 59 cruise missiles destroying a handful of Syrian planes. Though Russia protested the strike and made overtures about possible aggressive responses, the strike went largely unpunished.