June 28, 2021: A total of 32 countries began conducting military exercises in the Black Sea Monday, despite sharp criticism from Russia.
The US and Ukraine are leading the “Sea Breeze” drills. They are scheduled to last for two weeks, according to the US military.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the exercises as a provocation and alleged that they were being used to transport weapons and military equipment into Ukraine.
The exercises come days after Moscow said its navy fired warning shots and dropped bombs on a British warship en route to pursue it off the coast of Crimea in Black Sea waters. Russia says a British naval vessel has violated its territorial waters. The United Kingdom has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Ukraine’s intelligence have been made more than once. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. However, many nations around the world do not recognize the accession and consider the region to be part of Ukraine’s territory.
Thirty-two countries from six continents are taking part in this year’s exercises. This represents the largest participation in the history of these exercises, which have been taking place since 1997. This year includes more than 5,000 troops, 32 ships and 40 aircraft, as well as 18 special operations and diving teams. He is said to be focusing on areas such as amateur warfare, diving operations, air defense and anti-submarine warfare, among other things.
The Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that on Saturday, the Russian navy monitored the entry into the Black Sea during the restoration of the US destroyer USS Ross.
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