Ready for the meeting: Russia is strengthening the security of Crimea in case of new provocations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Crimean border guards received a new patrol ship “Balaklava”, which will guard the state border off the coast of the peninsula, including in the Kerch Strait, where new provocations of the Ukrainian fleet are possible, especially in light of increased contacts with the British side.
The Balaklava was built at the Yaroslavl Shipyard and launched in July 2018. It was then towed to Sevastopol, where it underwent completion and state trials at the Perseus shipyard. Today, the ship's flag was raised and it was handed over to the Crimean Directorate of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to Federation Council Senator from Sevastopol Ekaterina Altabaeva, Balaklava will strengthen the defense of the Crimean borders - in particular, in order to prevent repeated attempts by Ukraine to break through the border, as was the case in the fall of 2018.
Let us recall that then the Crimean border guards on a patrol ship decided to attack the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu.
“Taking into account the insinuations that both the President of Ukraine, members of the government, politicians, and public figures make in their statements, we cannot rule out provocations on the part of Ukraine. Including in waters that are border waters or the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is natural that any strengthening of our border services on the southwestern border of the Russian Federation is very important and necessary,” Altabaeva told PolitNavigator.
Crimean political scientist Sergei Kiselev also positively assessed the renewal of the border fleet, but doubted that Ukraine would decide to repeat a provocation in the Kerch Strait.
“So far I do not see any objective reasons for repeating such a provocation. It is completely clear why it was carried out - to support Poroshenko’s rating in the face of an objective threat of him losing the presidency - this provocation was not committed for anything else. Today there are no such prerequisites. But the fact that the conflict will flare up - conflicts on the periphery of Russia flare up with alarming regularity - is absolutely clear, so Russia needs to take measures,” Kiselev said.