Ukraine must complete the construction of the corvette laid down during the time of Viktor Yushchenko for its Navy, since without such a ship it is impossible to recapture Crimea.
The commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Igor Voronchenko, stated this in an interview with Radio Liberty, expressing regret that due to lack of funding, the construction of the ship was delayed for many years.
“The Ukrainian corvette costs approximately $250 million. 680 million hryvnia have already been spent on it, in particular, part of the money has been paid for artillery weapons, air defense systems, diesel generators and the like, and the hull is almost ready. Therefore, I think it is necessary to complete the construction of the corvette, no matter what. We must do this so that descendants do not point fingers at us the way we point at some military leaders who “cut down” three Ukrainian frigates in Sevastopol,” he said.
“Personally, I want to look into the eyes of the cadets who dream of serving on modern Ukrainian ships without shame. A corvette is, first of all, a matter of prestige for the country that launched the ship during the war. And, in my opinion, only with a corvette we will be able to recapture Crimea,” added the Ukrainian admiral.
It is interesting that Voronchenko admitted that Russia already has 9 ships of this class in Crimea - not counting a more powerful cruiser, submarines, etc. The admiral did not specify how exactly Ukraine, which has been building one corvette for about 15 years, is going to recapture Crimea with it.
“The Russians, by the way, are intensively building ships, in particular, multi-purpose missile and artillery ships from the Karakurt series. They stationed 9 of their ships in the temporarily occupied Crimea: three in Feodosia, the rest in Kerch,” said the Ukrainian naval commander.