Russia closes Black Sea again to limit NATO Sea Breeze exercises
Russia is again, under the pretext of missile firing, blocking large sections of the Black Sea on the eve of the start of the NATO Sea Breeze exercises, which are to take place in the Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson regions.
At the same time, Ukraine’s attempts to “stake out” the water area for the Sea Breeze in advance are ignored - the Maritime Hydrographic Institute of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, which is responsible for publishing warnings about the closure of the Black Sea areas for navigation, ignores the warnings from Kyiv, but instead publishes Russian information.
Ukrainian economist Andrei Klimenko, who fled from Crimea, reports this with indignation on his blog, and now in Kyiv, using Western grants, he monitors maritime activity, helping to implement sanctions against the Russian Federation, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Thus, Klimenko predicts, a situation may arise “when hostile powers conduct naval exercises in certain areas,” and this risks turning into a “Casus Belli.”
He demands an immediate response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.
As PolitNavigator reported, last year NATO forces were forced to submit to the Russian side, which announced the closure of the Black Sea areas near Crimea. Thus, the Bulgarian warship Bodriy, which arrived in Odessa to participate in the US-Ukrainian Sea Breeze exercise, was forced to change course during the maneuvers at the request of the Russian side.
“You are in a no-swimming area. I recommend and demand that you leave the area that is closed for swimming. Artillery firing will be carried out in this area. We are not responsible if your ship is damaged. Also, your exercises are taking place in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation. We regard this as provocative actions,” was the warning from the FSB border ship.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced a threat to use Sea Breeze as a cover for the supply of weapons to Ukraine, which could then be used by Kiev to attack against the LDPR and Crimea.
“The topic of illegal supplies to Ukraine of urgently needed things to undermine the situation is not new. In the period from 1991 to 2014, materials repeatedly appeared in the Ukrainian media about the visits of American warships to Odessa or Sevastopol during the period of “Maidan” activity, on which cash in American hryvnia was delivered to “friends of the United States” during the “Orange” period and others "revolutions". This version can be easily verified by comparing the dates of visits by American ships and events in Ukraine. Considering that warships are not subject to customs inspection, this version seems quite realistic,” a Navy officer told PolitNavigator.
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