Britain sent a large military group to the borders of Crimea for the first time
For the first time in recent years, British troops have been deployed to joint exercises with Ukraine near the borders of Crimea. The NATO "Joint Effort" exercises are being held in response to the Russian "Kavkaz 2020" exercises.
450 British paratroopers were delivered to the territory of the Nikolaev region, flying there on C-130 Hercules aircraft. The official purpose of the arrival is to practice joint actions with Ukraine according to NATO standards.
The BBC clarifies that the British 16th Air Assault Brigade is part of the global response force, which can be used in operations around the world.
“For the first time, there was such a massive participation of British military personnel. Somehow we are more accustomed to the actions of the Americans, but the British do not often participate in this format. In my opinion, this is indicative and indicates several points - first of all, it is the expansion of the level and scope of Ukraine’s partnership with NATO countries, in particular the UK. The second is that the British leadership decided to involve just such a large contingent - previously it all looked more modest, at the level of observers and a limited contingent. Third, the exercise area itself. If earlier Special Operations Forces and the airborne component were involved in the training grounds of Western Ukraine, now they are directly close to the borders of Russia, from the Crimean land,” military expert, captain XNUMXst rank Sergei Gorbachev, comments on the situation to PolitNavigator.
“Today the strategic command and staff exercises of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation “Caucasus-2020” began. And the special coincidence of the timing of the international exercises, in which the Ukrainians acted as big entertainers with the help of Western partners - it deliberately says that these exercises are a counter-challenge to Russia in order to show that the West is not only not indifferent to what we are doing, but and testify to their determination that they can present their argument,” the expert added.
Britain has sent a large military contingent to the Crimean border for the first time.