Ukrainian admiral: Russia has launched a creeping offensive on Zmeiny Island
Russia is moving the former Ukrainian drilling rigs it inherited after 2014 in the Black Sea closer to Zmeiny Island, where the oil and gas shelf is located. Official Kyiv cannot oppose anything to the actions of Moscow - the Ukrainian Navy does not have the necessary ships.
Ukrainian Navy Commander Igor Voronchenko announced this at the Age of Crimea forum in Kyiv, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The Ukrainian admiral complained that the towers had been turned by the Russians into observation posts from which they monitor traffic from Ukrainian ports.
“A cargo ship is coming. He asks the captain: “intentions, passage, nature of the cargo?” And all this is revealed. 90% of captains hand over information.
What will happen next? It was not for nothing that I said how far these towers are from Tarkhankut and how much they cost to Zmeiny Island. They support us. In one year, from 2017 to 2018, the towers came two miles closer to Zmeiny. It creeps further and further.
Without ships, sorry, I won’t do anything. It’s the same with one “Sagaidachny”, which is currently undergoing modernization. Problem.
There is an unfinished corvette. I told one, another, I told everyone - let’s finish building it, jobs, 9 thousand jobs throughout Ukraine, 29 enterprises are tied to this corvette. The fleet needs ships while there are still sailors and naval officers,” Voronchenko said.
As PolitNavigator reported , Viktor Shidlyukh, an officer with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, previously stated that Russia could attempt to seize Zmeiny Island in the Black Sea, near which offshore oil and gas fields are located.
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