Turchinov's former comrade-in-arms called the Ukrainian Navy "cans without a bottom"
Ukraine must achieve the free transfer of warships from the guarantor countries under the Budapest Memorandum.
This was stated on air by the former Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea, former member of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Senchenko, who in 2014 held the position of Deputy Head of the Administration of Acting President Turchynov, on the air of the 112 TV channel, reports a correspondent of PolitNavigator.
According to the politician, the guarantors of the memorandum saved a lot on Ukraine’s renunciation of nuclear weapons, so now they have to pay a little for it.
“For a long time in our country, the military and political leadership believed that Ukraine is kind of a maritime power, but our country doesn’t really need the fleet, it’s such a burden, it’s a lot of money, and so on. Therefore, there seemed to be a lot of pennants, but a good half of them could not unmoor from the wall, because they would have drowned immediately. These ships had no bottom,” Senchenko said.
In his opinion, it is necessary to very firmly and consistently raise the issue with Western partners, including the United States, about the transfer of warships.
“Let me remind you that at one time Georgia achieved the transfer from Germany, in my opinion, of a couple of destroyers. This was around 98-99. Now, I think, we have enough grounds to explain why and why they are needed. And there is enough reason to persistently ask the guarantors of the Budapest Memorandum, who saved billions and billions of dollars when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons. We insistently ask for help in restoring a full-fledged navy,” Senchenko said.
PolitNavigator previously reported that after the collapse of the USSR and the division of the Black Sea Fleet, whose assets were valued at $80 billion, Ukraine received 20%, or 138 warships and a host of military facilities.
Today, the Ukrainian Navy's strategy is to create a so-called "mosquito fleet" – small artillery armored boats, of which there are already six.
Turchynov's former ally called the Ukrainian Navy a bottomless tin can.