Just a reminder that it always pays to look back on history when the red-alert war alarm starts flashing – Russian ‘military’ planes have previously landed on Indonesian military bases – including as recently as 2017.

Two Turpolev Tu-95 planes (62-year-old young!) landed on Biak

That would be when the Coalition was in government. At that time, “Russian Navy ships from the Pacific Fleet have made port visits to Indonesia in both 2016 and 2017, while also taking part in international maritime reviews in Singapore and Thailand earlier this year.”

This is what they call in the biz, a distraction grenade. It’s a geo-political issue (Russia is very clearly attempting to cause some mischief in our domestic election) rather than a geo-strategic one (Indonesia does not want to make any sort of statement in this right now, given – everything.

So, short version – calm farms, people. It’s going to be OK.