On Monday, July 1, the international military exercises Sea Breeze 2019 will start on the Danube and in the Black Sea. According to the press service of the State Border Service of Ukraine, the maneuvers will last until the 12th and will take place both on land and at sea.

Artillery firing, inspection teams, the improvement of the interaction of special units, as well as specialized diving training are planned in the naval part of the exercises.

Earlier, the press service of the National Guard of Ukraine noted that the Sea Breeze 2019 will be held including in the Kherson region bordering the Crimea. The “scale and unique format” of the event, which is held according to NATO standards, was also noted.

It is planned that the training will involve 3 thousand soldiers from 19 countries - the USA, Great Britain, Canada, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. In the maneuvers will also take part 32 ships and 24 aircraft.

The legend of the exercises says that “hostile elements” will try to block the access to the sea from the Danube, and the Marine Guard will be assigned to escort the naval guards to escort civilian traffic through the mouth of the river to the Black Sea.

Recall Sea Breeze - annual multinational exercises that have been held in Ukraine for more than 20 years. In addition to the Ukrainian side, the organizers of the exercise are the United States.

A military expert, commercial director of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, Alexei Leonkov, in an interview with RT, noted that this year the maneuver scenario had acquired a specific character.

“Now for the trainings, the sea, river and land will be involved. Most likely, the military will work out various fire support tactics from the shore, to suppress the opposing points of a potential enemy, by which Russia is meant, ”explained Leonkov.

  • The military during ground training Sea Breeze 2018
  • © US Navy / REUTERS

The specialist believes that the maneuvers are likely to become another reason for the intensification of anti-Russian statements in Ukraine.

“The exercises will be accompanied by a certain kind of hype on the Ukrainian side - there they will say that the maneuvers are being conducted with the aim of deterring Russia's“ aggressive ”policy. Nationalists will say that thanks to the Sea Breeze 2019, the Ukrainian military will train and return the Crimea by force, ”the analyst believes.

In turn, military expert Yury Knutov noted that Ukraine is now seeking the status of a privileged partner of the United States, and Washington is paying increased attention to Kiev.

"This is evidenced by the strengthening of military cooperation with the United States, as well as the fact that the American side allocated funds for military assistance to Ukraine - the emphasis is on re-equipment of the electronic warfare system and communications," the source stressed.

Hidden tasks

The American side pulls up its military equipment to the site of the exercises - the US Navy destroyer USS Carney was sent to the Black Sea on June 29 in the evening. The National Center for Defense Management of Russia confirmed that the American ship entered the Black Sea.

"The transit of the US Navy Carney ship to the Black Sea and its participation in the Sea Breeze 2019 exercises confirm the seriousness of the intentions of the United States Navy in relation to this important region and our valuable partners," the 6th Fleet Navy press service reports. Vice Admiral Liza Franchetti.

The fleet's website notes that the purpose of the exercise is “to develop joint capabilities and capabilities to ensure regional security at sea”, as well as to strengthen friendly relations between the partner states.

The day before, the USNS Yuma high-speed amphibious assault ship arrived in Ukraine to participate in the exercises, the press service of the command of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports. It is noted that his task in maneuvers is to provide logistics during the event.

Also, according to the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, military transport planes of NATO countries continue to arrive in Odessa, which deliver personnel, equipment and necessary equipment that will be used in Sea Breeze 2019. It is noted that the American military transport aircraft and the long-range C-130J Hercules and the British military transport A400 Atlas have already transported the equipment, equipment and the first participants of international exercises - fighters of maritime special forces, military British detachment of divers Special Boat Service.

A battalion of marines of the Ukrainian Navy is being prepared at the proving ground near Odessa to the Sea Breeze 2019. The marines worked out landing without parashute method using a set of onboard equipment "Adapter-M1."

According to Yuri Knutov, under the guise of such exercises as Sea Breeze, Washington increases the mobilization resource of the Ukrainian army and raises the anti-Russian degree there.

“It is possible that during the exercises in the Crimea region, a provocation could be organized, because the results on the G-20 were too positive - they began to reckon with and negotiate with Russia, improve relations. All countries understand that, historically, the territory of the Crimean Republic has always been a part of the Russian Federation. Therefore, Kiev, with the support of Washington, needs to organize an incident in order to dramatically change the opinion of Moscow from the international community, ”the analyst believes.

  • Destroyer of the US Navy Carney (left)
  • Reuters
  • © Yoruk Isik

According to Alexei Leonkov, the goals of the exercises that Washington is talking about are only the official version for the media, while the hidden tasks of the maneuvers are revealed only in combat training orders.

"Despite the fact that the American side announces the objectives of the exercises, which can be described as abstract, in practice the maneuvers are designed to work out specific combat skills that can be used in practice, including against Russia," - said the expert .

At the same time, the fact that foreign ships will take part in the maneuvers suggests that Ukraine itself has “nothing to shine on,” says Leonkov.

“The Ukrainian fleet has long been in a deplorable state. In order to create large ships, the country lacks experience, given that shipbuilding plants experts fled. Some ships rust to such an extent that they become completely unsuitable and cannot even be repaired, ”the expert emphasized.

In addition, in Ukraine there is no such specialized equipment, which should be on ships, as information control systems and radars, Leonkov reminded.

“And the NATO countries will hardly share such equipment. Rather, they will sell the ships close to write-off to Kiev, and they will also earn money on it, ”the analyst emphasized.

"Repel dangerous intrusion"

The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that it is concerned about the increase in the recent number of NATO exercises near the Russian borders. Similar concerns apply to the teachings of Sea Breeze 2019.

Back in February 2019, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that Moscow considers the idea of ​​holding joint US-Ukrainian maneuvers in the Black Sea to be dangerous.

“This is how we will treat her. Before we study the facts. They are perceived by us as a dangerous idea, ”said Karasin.

Sea Breeze 2019 is far from the first maneuvers conducted by the NATO countries near the borders of the Russian Federation. Thus, at the beginning of June, joint exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance Baltops began on the Baltic Sea, during which episodes related to the suppression of radar and radio navigation systems were also worked out.

In addition, in the past two months alone, a whole series of military exercises organized by NATO or with the participation of the member countries of the bloc took place in Latvia - Summer Shield XVI and Furious Hammer, Swift Response airborne tactical exercises 19, maneuvers Efp kg kg Certex. On June 26, joint exercises of the Latvian army and other NATO member-countries, Jef (M) 19 Amphibex, were launched, the purpose of which is to test the skills of sea landing.

According to Yuri Knutov, the main goal of the Sea Breeze 2019 exercises is to put pressure on Russia. In his opinion, it is possible that, under certain conditions, the air borders of the Russian Federation may be violated during training.

“Conducting these maneuvers is extremely dangerous, since offensive tasks, rather than defensive ones, are being worked out,” the expert explained.

As Leonkov notes, the joint exercises of Ukraine and the United States are only part of Washington’s plan to fuel the situation around Russian borders.

  • NATO joint exercises Baltops
  • © NATO

“This year, NATO has scheduled a large number of maneuvers near the territory of Russia - their number only increases with time. All exercises are dedicated to certain operations, but if you combine these trainings together for duration, it turns out that the alliance conducts full-scale operations in the theater of military operations in Europe - from the Baltic to the Black Sea, ”the analyst stated.

The expert also does not exclude that Sea Breeze 2019 can be accompanied by dangerous incidents.

“Often, extraordinary incidents occur during maneuvers involving NATO countries, for example, due to poor combat training and military coherence, some ammunition does not fly to the side of the landfill, but somewhere beyond it,” Leonkov said.

Therefore, the Russian air defense will control the surface and airspace during exercises in order to “reflect a dangerous invasion from the outside,” the expert said.

"In addition, the Russian coast guard has a sufficient number of sets of weapons to" talk "with any fleet, if it suddenly behaves aggressively," Leonkov concluded.