Russian troops hold drills as US, NATO warships enter Black Sea

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has launched naval exercises in the Crimean Peninsula, as US and NATO warships conduct joint drills in the strategic Black Sea, ratcheting up tensions in the region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems stationed in Crimea had fired missiles into the Black Sea, as part of an exercise to destroy a simulated enemy surface ship in the strategic waters.

“In the course of the exercise, the servicemen practiced the algorithm of measures to deliver missile strikes against a simulated enemy’s warship by electronic launches,” the ministry added.

The exercises came shortly after the Russian National Defense Control Center it was tracking the UK guided missile destroyer Defender and the Dutch Navy frigate Evertsen as they joined the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon and other vessels positioned in the Black Sea for the multinational so-called Sea Breeze 2021 military exercises.

The “Sea Breeze” exercises are co-hosted by Ukraine and the United States. This year, the annual war games, which are due to take place from June 28 through July 10, are set to feature their largest multinational gathering yet.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, about 4,000 NATO military personnel, as well as 40 navy ships, boats, and auxiliary vessels, 30 aerial units, and over 100 vehicles and armored units, will be deployed in the Black Sea. The main participants of the exercise would be Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Britain, and Turkey.

Special Forces from various NATO countries will also be deployed in Ukraine as part of the drills.

Earlier, military build-ups by NATO countries near Russian borders prompted Moscow to station contingents along the border with Ukraine and in the Crimean Peninsula. The Kremlin said the deployments were in response to threatening military action by NATO.

On Monday, the US’s Sixth Fleet announced its participation in the Sea Breeze exercises in Ukraine.

Ukrainian naval forces have already begun live-fire combat training amid heightened geopolitical frictions surrounding the exercises.

Russia calls on US to stop military drills in Black Sea

Russia has called on the United States and its allies to stop the military maneuvers in the Black Sea.

“We call on the US and its allies to stop military operations in the Black Sea,” the Russian Embassy in the United States said in a post on its Twitter account on Wednesday.

“Every problem emerging in the region can be resolved by the littoral states themselves without ‘imposing’ help from the outside,” it added.

 “The scale and obviously aggressive nature of the military drills Sea Breeze in no way match the real security needs in the Black Sea region,” the embassy said, adding that the exercises “increase risks of unintended incidents” and “inspire militaristic ambitions in Kiev.”

SS