The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Wasn't this [Australian] government all about boats?

© Presidential Press Service, Alexei Panov

How exciting was it last night when the news came through that Russian warships were steaming towards Australia!

Clearly our Prime Minister's hardline approach to making hollow threats had awoken a sleeping giant, right? What hell hath this shirtfronting wrought!

Social media exploded with Red Scare terrors worthy of the Cold War, and as recently as this afternoon a certain other news outlet was still declaring that "A convoy of heavily armed Russian war ships, including at least one high powered missile cruiser, are cruising international waters to Australia's north, Defence has confirmed."

But before you start rushing for the fallout shelters ahead of Red Dawn Down Under, it's worth pointing out a couple of teensy-tiny things.

One is that the "convoy of heavily armed Russian war ships" is actually a destroyer, a cruiser, a supply ship and a tug: armed, yes, but not exactly an invasion fleet.

Secondly, the reason they're going past is twofold: the cruiser and destroyer are doing live-fire drills in the South China Sea, and the other two ships were berthed in Jakarta as part of the Indonesian Defence Expo. Indonesia, you might recall, is to our north.

Thirdly, they're transiting through international waters and Australia's defence forces were alerted of their passage and have been monitoring 'em. It's not like they've just appeared over the horizon.

Now, the fact that they're coming this way is, without a doubt, a bit of a muscle-flex ahead of the G20. If you want to remind Australia, China, Japan and India that Russia can send warships all over the planet, then the South China Sea is a pretty solid place to conduct your drills.

Of course, maybe this is just a feint so we don't notice those Russian submarines slipping unseen into Sydney Harbour even as you read this. Anyone got Alec Baldwin's number? We may need his advice...