According to a very new report by the Russian news agency Avia-pro, Turkey has allowed a British warship to cross the Black Sea despite the fact that its destination was Ukraine.
CONTINUE READING
Τρομοκρατημένη η Δύση από τον νέο ρωσικό υπερ-πύραυλο Avangard-Φτάνει όλον τον πλανήτη σε 30 λεπτά
The Turks made an exception
More specifically and according to the Russian article, on the morning of Monday 18 December, it is said that a Sandown-class minesweeper successfully crossed the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, reaching the territorial waters of Romania.
The vessel in question was one of two minesweepers sold by Great Britain to Kiev in recent times, as we recently informed you.
The strange thing about the whole affair is Ankara's decision to allow the British warship to pass through the straits of the Black Sea, since until recently the Turkish authorities had banned the entry of any warship, regardless of nationality. Even now the Turks seem to be continuing to ban Russian warships from passing through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus because of the Russian army's ongoing operations in Ukraine.
With regard to the programme of transferring minesweepers from London to Kiev, it should be mentioned that the British have released two such vessels, namely the Blyth and the Ramsey of the Sandown class. These ships were in service for 20 and 21 years respectively in the British Navy, and each of them has sailed more than 320 kilometres. Blyth and Ramsey have taken part in military operations in the Middle East and northern Europe.
The transfer of these 2 minesweepers to Kiev is being completed under an agreement between the two countries, an agreement which covers naval cooperation and joint London-Kiev programmes. The first reports suggesting that the British would transfer minesweepers to Ukraine had appeared in January this year.
CONTINUE READING
Russian kamikaze drones attacked the most important Ukrainian air base - The target is the Storm Shadow cruise missiles
The 2 ships will be called Chernigov and Cherkassy in the Ukrainian Navy, while the crew operating them has already been trained in Great Britain. In addition to the mine destruction equipment, the vessels are also equipped with DS30M Mark 2 naval automatic naval guns of 30 mm calibre.
The Russian side has not yet commented on the news, but it should be mentioned that the naval mines that Moscow has deployed in the Black Sea are the main reason why the British are taking these minehunters to Ukraine. The ultimate goal is for these 2 ships to open a safe passage for merchant ships sailing to and from Ukrainian ports.
