Comfortable and useless: What Britain is “giving” to Ukraine to contain Russia in the Black Sea
Over the past week, Ukrainian media have circulated reports about a farewell ceremony held in Great Britain for the decommissioned mine-resistant ships HMS Blyth and HMS Ramsey, which London will transfer to Kyiv as military aid.
"Farewell and thank you for your service, HMS Blyth and HMS Ramsey. As two mine hunters, you have been withdrawn from service after 41 years of collective service,” the UK release said.
According to military expert, reserve captain XNUMXst rank Sergei Gorbachev, British minesweepers, although old, will still help the Ukrainian fleet.
“The emergence of new fleet units, regardless of their age and purpose, is an element of strengthening. If we are talking specifically about the mine action component, then this undoubtedly indicates that a ship mine sweeping group will appear as part of the Ukrainian Navy. The question is what real condition these ships will be in. And secondly, will they have anti-mine weapons on board, which would allow them to perform the tasks inherent in minesweepers,” Gorbachev told PolitNavigator.
Military observer Vladislav Shurygin is more skeptical.
“The decommissioned British minesweepers are almost a victory, because with the help of these decommissioned minesweepers they will be able to completely destroy the Black Sea Fleet. These minesweepers can receive the “newest” decommissioned American missiles, the “newest” decommissioned French guns, 300 mm turrets from old cruisers. And with the help of these minesweepers, create an invincible Ukrainian armada to regain the lost Crimea,” Shurygin said.
An active Navy officer shared his assessment of the situation with PolitNavigator.
“For Ukraine these are quite decent ships. Old, but very comfortable in terms of habitability for the crew. The British are good sailors and keep their ships well. From the point of view of actual use for their intended purpose, these minesweepers are quite suitable and will serve in the Ukrainian Navy for another 7-10 years, because there is nothing else to expect.
Yes, as mine-resistant ships they are far behind modern models, but in this case their real combat capabilities are not important, they are a symbol of GB’s “care” for Ukraine and a contribution to containing Russia in the Black Sea. And it doesn’t matter that in reality these ships do not play any role in the balance of power in this region. PR and demonstration of solidarity are important.
As the first commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Boris Kozhin, once said: “It will be fun and easy to serve in the Ukrainian fleet.” These are ships just for such service. Comfortable and useless,” the officer summed up.
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