The Maritime Authority of Ukraine warns of "rocket and artillery fire" by the Russian Navy in the Black Sea and the neighboring Sea of Azov.
Citing a statement from the Russian authorities, the agency announced on Tuesday evening that from February 13 to 19, "navigating" would be "dangerous" in three large areas of the two seas and also partly along the coast.
Gerhard Gnauck
Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.
Follow I follow
Frederick Smith
Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.
Follow I follow
The specialist portal BlackSeaNews.net decoded the geographic coordinates of the areas and published a map.
Accordingly, almost the entire coast of Ukraine, west and east of Crimea annexed by Russia, will be effectively closed these days, as well as a large strip of sea from the peninsula towards Romania.
The Defense Minister of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, wrote on Twitter: "International waters of the Azov and Black Seas are blocked by Russia." One now expects "a united reaction: If Russia's ships can no longer call at ports in the world, they will." understand the price of their insolence.” The Foreign Ministry criticized the Russian naval exercises near the coast as “blatant disregard for the rules and principles of international law”.
It is "virtually impossible" to navigate in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, it said in a statement.
"Such aggressive actions by the Russian Federation as part of its hybrid war against Ukraine are unacceptable." Kiev will prepare a reaction together with its partner countries.
Moscow insists on "compliance with the law of the sea"
In the past few days, six Russian warships designed for amphibious landing operations have entered the Black Sea.
This doubled Russia's DropShip capability in the Black Sea, a senior Western intelligence official said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all military exercises in the relevant seas are taking place "in accordance with the law of the sea."
Ukraine also announced on Thursday that it would begin maneuvers that would be spread across many regions.
According to the top military commander, General Serhij Najew, the "Snowstorm 2022" staff exercise is intended to test the interaction of different units and authorities.
Like some Western countries, Russia does not rule out withdrawing diplomats from Ukraine for security reasons.
According to the Russian agency TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday: "We have already considered whether the Anglo-Saxons might prepare something if they bring their employees to safety?
We have looked at their actions and will probably also recommend to our non-essential staff at our diplomatic facilities to go home for a while.”
Partner countries of Ukraine have continued to supply arms to the country.
America has delivered 228 modern anti-tank missiles (“Javelin”) since the beginning of the year, the American embassy in Kiev told the FAZ, 272 are still expected.
Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte wrote on Thursday that her country would hand over American-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine in the coming days.
"I sincerely hope and wish that Ukraine will never have to use them," she said during a visit to Kiev on Thursday.
Ukraine can always count on Lithuania's support.
Estonia also wants to deliver weapons - said to be nine howitzers - from old GDR stocks to the Ukraine and has asked the federal government for approval.
Estonia is still waiting for a decision from Berlin.
In Belarus, meanwhile, the "Union Resolve 2022" maneuver with Russian and Belarusian troops has begun, which is scheduled to last until February 20.
The Minsk Ministry of Defense announced that paratroopers had practiced repelling reconnaissance and sabotage forces in the western Belarusian region of Brest.
Ruler Alexandr Lukashenko said he was "convinced that there will be no hot war".
During a visit to Moscow, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called on Russia to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as promised in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
Nobody undermines Russia's security, said Truss, and called on Moscow to withdraw its troops from the border with the neighboring country.
In the event of an attack on Ukraine, Truss promised a long conflict and tough sanctions against "certain institutions and individuals" in Russia.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will then not go into operation.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke of "incomprehensible concerns" that existed "in London and in the West" about the maneuvers with Belarus.
According to the Moscow and Minsk statements, the maneuver is used exclusively for defensive purposes.
Lavrov compared the conversation with Truss to "a dumb man with a deaf man" and described the demand for a troop withdrawal as "at least regrettable" since the armed forces were on Russian territory, which, according to Moscow, also included the annexed Ukrainian one, which was also included in the deployment Crimea counts.