Ukrainian Fleet Trains with NATO Off English Coast
A two-week NATO-led minehunting exercise, Sea Breeze 26-2, concluded off the coast of Portland, Dorset, involving five Ukrainian Navy minehunters donated by Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The exercise, co-led by the US Sixth Fleet and Ukraine and hosted by the Royal Navy, included 16 countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK, and the US. Crews practiced minehunting, bomb disposal, diving, salvage, live firing, and uncrewed systems. Two ships from Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 also participated. The training aimed to enhance interoperability and maritime security. The Sea Breeze exercise, which began in 1997, was moved from the Black Sea after Russia's 2022 invasion due to restrictions under the Montreux Convention and drifting mine hazards. Ukraine, having lost its main naval bases in Crimea, has rebuilt its fleet with allied donations, and these minehunters are intended to clear approaches to Ukrainian ports to facilitate grain exports.
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