President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the signing of a £ 1.25 billion ($ 1.6 billion) memorandum on the development of the Ukrainian navy with the UK authorities.

The Ukrainian leader called the memorandum "an important strategic document."

“We will be at the naval base and sign this memorandum worth 1.25 billion pounds.

We all believed that there would be a navy in Ukraine again.

And finally, this is the first such powerful step, "Zelensky said, without specifying what kind of cooperation will be discussed.

We will remind, on October 7 and 8, Vladimir Zelensky and his wife are on an official visit to the UK.

The central theme of the trip will be the signing of the Ukrainian-British Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership.

In addition, the parties plan to sign a number of bilateral documents on cooperation in the defense field and financial support for bilateral projects.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy with his wife Elena at a meeting with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, October 7, 2020

  • Reuters

  • © Jonathan Brad

Recall that in 2020, the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union.

London is busy building its own ties with other countries, relations with which were previously largely regulated by the norms of the European Union.

On the eve of the prospects of the British-Ukrainian partnership, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba spoke in an interview with the BBC.

According to the minister, the parties are to sign a very large complex document.

Also London and Kiev plan to develop cooperation in the field of security.

Commenting on the reporter's remark that "there were calls" for the British military to conduct exercises more often in the southern regions of Ukraine, Kuleba noted that the Ukrainian authorities are not against this.

“If they parachute there and stay, we will not object either,” he added, explaining that Great Britain had been supporting Ukraine from the very beginning of the “Russian aggression”.

According to experts, London's keen interest in cooperation with Ukraine is by no means selfless.

As military expert Yuri Knutov noted in an interview with RT, the British side is interested in Ukrainian resources, such as cheap labor, black soil and a technological base.

In addition, London is interested in access to the Black Sea, the expert said.

“For Great Britain, Ukraine is something like a new colony, plus the rapprochement between London and Kiev in the interests of the United States.

Therefore, the British side launched such activity, ”the expert explained.

A similar point of view is shared by political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak.

“London will provide loans to Kiev, and then return them with interest, because the Ukrainian side should spend these funds on the services of British shipbuilding companies.

In Ukraine, Great Britain feels like a colonizer, as before in Asia, ”the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

Observe and learn

Information about the possible conclusion of an agreement between the UK and Ukraine in the field of military shipbuilding appeared in the Ukrainian media in early 2020.

In January, British Defense Attaché in Ukraine, Commodore of the Royal Navy, Tim Woods, said that the British side is interested in such cooperation with Kiev.

However, the parties must first ensure that the ships that London has to offer meet Ukrainian needs.

  • Artillery boat P175 "Berdyansk"

  • © Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

“And if we offer frigates, they are very expensive, and they do not fit into the naval strategy of Ukraine.

We have already closely communicated with representatives of the Naval Forces of Ukraine about the strategy of the "mosquito" fleet.

We are talking about high-speed patrol boats and "river-sea" class facilities.

And this is how we want to help, ”the diplomat said in an interview with the Ukrainian newspaper The Day.

Woods also said that British manufacturers are ready to offer such ship designs that can be built at Ukrainian enterprises.

“It would be a great success for Ukrainian shipyards to resume the construction of ships,” he stressed.

Vadim Prystaiko (in August, Prystaiko was appointed ambassador of Ukraine to the UK -

RT

) also

spoke about the localization of defense production

in an interview with the newspaper Evropeyskaya Pravda.

The diplomat expressed hope that Kiev will receive real military assistance and assistance in the development of the armed forces.

The fact that we can talk about the construction of part of the ships on the basis of Ukrainian enterprises was also mentioned in the response of the British Embassy to a request from the Ukrainian media on this topic.

"Ukraine will have the opportunity to observe and learn during the construction of the first ships in Britain, in parallel with the modernization of its own shipbuilding," - quotes "Evropeyskaya Pravda" an excerpt from the diplomatic mission's commentary.

Also, the Ukrainian media managed to clarify the approximate characteristics of the boats that the Ukrainian Navy would like to receive.

As the former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy for European Integration, Captain First Rank Andriy Ryzhenko, said, we can talk about boats with a length of 50 meters, a speed of 30-50 knots, a tonnage of up to 400 tons, capable of carrying eight missiles on board.

"Have put up a cross"

The formation of a large shipbuilding center on the territory of present-day Ukraine began under the Russian Empire.

The shipyard, around which the city of Nikolaev soon grew, was put into operation in 1788 by order of the Governor-General of Novorossiya Grigory Potemkin.

Already in 1790 the first ship was launched in Nikolaev.

Shipbuilding traditions also developed in the Soviet era - for example, it was in Nikolaev that the only Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" was built. 

  • Black Sea Shipyard

  • © Wikipedia

However, after the proclamation of Ukraine's independence, the shipbuilding industry began to decline gradually, and there was no longer any talk of building large-tonnage ships.

So, in 2018, PJSC Chernomorsky Shipbuilding Plant (part of Smart Maritime Group) was declared bankrupt by the decision of the Economic Court of the Nikolaev region.

At the same time, during the times of the USSR, the plant was one of the world's leading manufacturers of large-capacity marine equipment and surpassed all European shipyards in a number of parameters.

The last major project, which was laid down at ChSZ, was the corvette "Vladimir the Great" (project 58200 "Gaiduk-21").

Construction started in 2011 but was never completed due to lack of funding.

The lack of large-tonnage warships forced the Ukrainian naval command to turn to the tactics of the "mosquito fleet".

The idea belongs to Igor Voronchenko, who was the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Navy until May 2020.

In 2016, he announced that a missile boat should become the key combat unit of the Ukrainian fleet.

The "Mosquito Fleet", according to the plan of the Ukrainian military, can attack large enemy ships with a whole group of light boats.

However, experts assess this tactic with a fair amount of skepticism.

According to Yuri Knutov, “mosquito” tactics are doomed to failure in the Black Sea theater of military operations.

  • Igor Voronchenko, former Commander of the Ukrainian Navy

  • RIA News

  • © Igor Maslov

“Even Petro Poroshenko put an end to Ukrainian shipbuilding traditions.

The authorities buried the idea of ​​a normal fleet when they switched to launching boats instead of large-tonnage ships and adopted this "mosquito" tactic.

In fact, with proper funding, Ukraine can still start producing ships for its fleet, but for this it needs to be an independent state.

As for the British boats, it will only help the military to make money on the "cut" of funds.

This is another adventure, ”the expert said.

Alexander Dudchak adheres to a similar point of view.

“Ukraine has capacities for the production of combat boats, but such projects, in fact, put an end to those shipbuilding traditions that were in the country.

Programs like the one Zelensky is talking about are just a veiled format of tribute to Western partners, because the funds will be credit, and Kiev will not only provide orders for British companies, but will also pay interest.

In reality, the money should have been invested in other areas, for example, on the development of our own design solutions and military-technical traditions, ”the expert summed up.