DISINFO: Sea Breeze exercise is a provocative NATO attack on Russia in the Black Sea region
SUMMARY
The Sea Breeze exercise is not the only provocative attack of NATO on Russia in the Black Sea region. Moscow is confident that in addition to checking the combat readiness of the troops, the Pentagon is pursuing other, hidden goals.
The formal goal is to establish interaction between the Ukrainian army and NATO troops. According to the scenario, the coalition group will be involved in "stabilising the crisis situation" caused by the activities of "illegal armed groups", to which "the authorities of the neighbouring country are providing all-round support." You don't need to be a political scientist to understand that the "illegal formations" are units of the People's Militia of the DPR and LPR.
All this cannot but worry Moscow, because the active phase of the exercises will take place in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders. Moreover, NATO, under the guise of maneuvers, plans to deliver modern weapons, ammunition and material property for Ukrainian troops to Ukraine. In previous years, all this will be directed to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalist formations stationed near the districts not controlled by Kyiv in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative about NATO and its military exercises.
Sea Breeze is a multinational military exercise that has been held in Ukraine since 1997 in line with the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in Defense and Military Relations between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The exercises are co-organised by Ukraine and the United States.
NATO is not preparing a war against Russia (or any other country). NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. The primary aim of the alliance is to maintain peace and safeguard the independence, security and territorial integrity of its members. NATO follows strict procedure and emphasises transparency during military training exercises, which are announced months in advance and are subject to international scrutiny. All NATO members and partners participate voluntarily and training exercises are conducted with the approval of the host countries.
There is no evidence that NATO is using the exercises as a cover to supply US armaments to Kyiv. Nor is there a logical reason why Washington's assistance to Ukraine should suddenly become a clandestine matter. In fact, the US Department of Defense is quite open about its military relationship with Ukraine. See, for instance, this 2019 Pentagon press release announcing an additional $250 million in aid to the Ukrainian Army and stating the total volume of US security assistance since the beginning of Russian aggression on Ukraine in 2014.