When the Russian flagged liquefied natural gas carrier Arctic Metagaz erupted in flames one hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Sirte, Libya it did more than just threaten an ecological catastrophe for the Pelagie Islands. It signaled that the scorched earth tactics of the Black Sea have been successfully exported to the North African littoral. This incident represents the definitive end of Libyan neutrality and the beginning of a dangerous new chapter where the country serves as a forward operating base for high end asymmetric warfare directed by Kyiv against Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to label the explosion a terrorist attack and blamed Ukrainian sea drones launched directly from the Libyan coast. While the Tripoli based Government of National Unity has remained largely silent the evidence of a deepening military axis between Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and the administration of Volodymyr Zelenskyy is becoming impossible to ignore. Dbeibah has forged quiet but firm ties with Ukraine to counteract the pervasive influence of the Russian Africa Corps and the Wagner Group which continue to back the eastern forces of Khalifa Haftar. In this cynical marriage of convenience Libya has become a testing ground for the latest in unmanned maritime........

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