The Washington Post: Russia may launch an attack on Ukraine from the Sea of ​​Azov

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“In terms of security, Russia currently dominates the Sea of ​​Azov,” Ukrainian chief diplomat Dmytro Kuleba told the Washington newspaper. – He added that in the event of a conflict, this fact will be used extensively by them (the Russians) to put pressure on our southern cities located on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

“In the current circumstances, it is Russia that dictates the situation in the Sea of ​​Azov,” Kuleba told the Washington Post.

Read: Ukraine accuses Russia of “open provocations” in the Sea of ​​Azov

The Sea of ​​Azov, a shallow body of water smaller than Lake Michigan and bordered only by Russia and Ukraine, is the only place where the two countries face direct conflict every day. The sea is full of Russian ships – there are currently almost four times as many Ukrainian ships – told Andria Kymienko, a military expert in Kiev and editor-in-chief of Black Sea News. Since there is no maritime border at sea yet, the Russian fleet can get as close to the Ukrainian coast as it pleases, making coastal cities in southeastern Ukraine the most vulnerable, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

US intelligence warns that the Kremlin may be plotting in multiple directions Military attack on Ukraine Already at the beginning of next year. Despite international attention, focused on the concentration of Russian forces along Ukraine’s land borders, Ukrainian forces are largely powerless in the event of an invasion from the sea. The Washington Post wrote that they could not legally take any action until the first Russian soldier stepped ashore.

Russia restricts the movement of Ukrainian ships in the Sea of ​​Azov. The usual practice of the Kremlin is to cordon off certain areas of the basin (without prior notice) in order – according to the Russian authorities – to conduct military exercises. The Ukrainian Navy reported in December that nearly 70 percent of the Sea of ​​Azov was blocked due to “navigational warnings” from Moscow.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian ships of provoking and harassing their fleet in the Azov Sea for years. There are times when a Russian unit takes an aggressive course toward Ukraine before taking a last-minute turn, says Volodymyr Yarofeev, of the Ukraine Coast Guard.

The American daily notes that the coast of the Azov Sea has greater strategic and economic value for Russia than the Donbass regions that were devastated as a result of the seven-year armed conflict.

The Ukrainian-controlled area along the Sea of ​​Azov separates mainland Russia from Crimea and the Donbass, which it annexed, and is partially occupied by pro-Russian separatists. Located a hundred kilometers away, Taganrog is an important commercial center in southwestern Russia.

Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the construction of a new naval base in the port of Azov in Berdyansk will be accelerated “to combat Russian aggression in the region.” For his part, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, warned that “any attempt to invade Ukraine from the sea will be repelled by the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.”

The Washington Post in its publications pays a lot of attention to the current tense relations between Russia and Ukraine. At the end of October, the American daily wrote about the concentration of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border. The newspaper confirmed at the time that “this fact has alarmed US and European officials, and Russia has sharpened its rhetoric toward Ukraine.”

On December 20, the Washington Post wrote about the Joe Biden administration’s plans for Support for the “Ukrainian guerrilla war” In the event that Russia occupied part of the country. And according to the newspaper’s findings, they are being dealt with by a special team that builds its work on experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq and others.