Russia Carefully Monitored the International Exercises “Sea Breeze”

In total, about 2,000 people from eight countries, more than 20 ships, as well as planes, propellers, etc. were involved in the “Sea Breeze – 2020” exercises. In addition to Ukraine and the United States, the military of Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, Romania, Spain and Turkey took part in the exercises, according to the Ministry of Defence.

All maneuver tasks in the Black Sea have been completed in full. The leaders of the exercises “Sea Breeze – 2020” from the Ukrainian and American sides thanked all participants for the high level of professional training and effective performance of tasks. According to them, these exercises once again demonstrated a high level of cooperation between Ukraine and the United States and regional allies and partners to ensure readiness and interoperability in the Black Sea region.

One of the features of this year’s exercises was the joint remote work of the two headquarters, of which, in fact, the management of “Sea Breeze – 2020” was carried out. One headquarters was located directly in Odesa, and the other was in the city of Rota (Kingdom of Spain) in the naval operations center of the 60th connection of surface ships of the 6th fleet of the US Navy.

This was a kind of know-how for both Ukrainian sailors and our American partners. The work of the headquarters was conducted in the mode of constant exchange of information. All activities, and then the practical implementation of security operations in the Black Sea region, were planned remotely.

Another feature of the exercises was that during the joint operations, for the first time, an element of practical shooting to destroy naval targets with the use of helicopter weapons was practiced. In addition, for the first time in the framework of the “Sea Breeze,” there was escorted patrol anti-submarine aircraft P-8 Poseidon of the US Navy.

It should be emphasised that the ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation closely monitored the practical actions at sea of multinational ship-boat groups of the naval component of the “Sea Breeze – 2020” exercises.

Natalia Tolub