Russia held military exercises in the Black Sea region on Tuesday with the participation of more than 20 Russian warships, as well as warplanes and air defense units, AFP news agency said. Among the warships were patrol ships, missile destroyers and anti-submarine ships. In addition, more than 50 warplanes were deployed to Crimea. Reuters noted that Russia has temporarily restricted the activities of foreign warships and what it called “vessels of other countries” in the vicinity of Crimea, a move that prompted the United States to express “deep concern.
Rosatom also reported that more than 20 ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet conducted joint exercises at sea with attack aircraft and their crews, according to the information security service of the fleet. More than 20 ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet conducted joint training with the Southern Military District Air Force and Air Defense Group Su-25SM3 attack aircraft as part of the inspection of the fleet’s winter training period,” the press release said. The fleet conducted exercises to repel air attacks and conditionally use air defense systems using active electronic jamming.
The news service noted, “Three squadrons of attack aircraft from the Southern Military District conducted training on approaching battle lines, conditional use of missile weapons against detachments and getting away from retaliatory strikes by air defense system shipboard equipment.” The flights were conducted at extremely low altitudes in complex hydro-meteorological conditions. The news service said more than 50 aircraft from the Southern Military District were redeployed to Crimea earlier as part of the inspection.
The State Department called Russia’s ban on foreign vessels entering a series of areas in the Black Sea “an unwarranted escalation of the situation. State Department spokesman Price said in a written statement that the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the ban. Russia has a record of violating Ukrainian ships and impeding their access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, which affects Ukraine’s international trade,” Price said. This is another example of the unwarranted escalation of Moscow’s ongoing destabilizing actions in Ukraine.” He reiterated U.S. concerns about the suspected increase in Russian troop deployments near the Ukrainian border, saying there have not been this many servicemen there since 2014.
According to Price, “Ukraine is to be commended for its continued restraint in the face of Russian provocations. We call on Russia to stop threatening ships in the area and to stop the troop increase.” Data from the announcement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry’s Navigation and Oceanography Directorate on April 14 showed that the right of peaceful navigation through Russian territorial waters was suspended for foreign warships and vessels of other countries in three areas of the Black Sea from 21:00 on April 24 to 21:00 on October 31. At the same time, it was stressed that the planned closed areas will not impede navigation through the Kerch Strait, in addition, all areas are within Russian territorial waters.
The sharp deterioration of Russia’s diplomatic relations with the West is not unrelated to its recent initiative to once again deploy troops on a large scale in the border areas of Ukraine, citing the crisis in the Ukrainian East. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrelli told the media on the 19th that the Russian side has deployed 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, the largest Russian military deployment in the region. This is a build-up of more than 150,000 Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and in Crimea,” Borrelli said. The risk of further escalation is palpable.” Separately, Moscow expelled 20 Czech diplomats on Sunday. It was a retaliation for the Czech expulsion of Russian diplomats. The Czech side suspects Russian intelligence agencies were involved in an arsenal bombing that occurred in 2014. The explosion killed two Czechs.
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