DISINFO: Ukraine and NATO violate Russian maritime borders
SUMMARY
Ukraine and NATO are constantly violating Russian maritime borders. NATO should have understood for a long time that this is a Russian economic zone, that Crimea is the territory of the Russian Federation. Someone is exceeding the permissible norms of behaviour, that is, violates our territorial waters, invades our economic zone.
RESPONSE
During the Sea Breeze military exercise, a Russian patrol ship of the Russian FSB Coast Guard went on the radio to the Bulgarian ship Bodra with a demand for it to leave its location. This year, as in 2019, it was Russia that resorted to provocation against the Ukrainian-American exercises: on the eve of the start of the Sea Breeze, the Kremlin deliberately blocked the area in the Black Sea where, according to the plan, the exercises should take place. Moreover, the waters of the Black and Azov Seas around Crimea cannot be considered Russian, at least due to the fact that the peninsula is an occupied Ukrainian territory. In addition, according to all international standards, Ukraine has every right to use the Black and Azov Seas. Sea Breeze is an annually recurring multinational exercise, it does not aim, nor threaten, to invade any territory or to exert any pressure. Military exercises have been conducted since 1997, in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of Ukraine and the United States. Theinternational community, including theEuropean Union, recognises and condemns clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity byacts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014.