Russia earlier on Thursday performed military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea while maintaining its buildup along the Ukraine border. The recent war games have concerned Western allies with US president Joe Biden urging Americans to leave at any moment due to a possible bid of a Russian invasion.
Ukraine also will engage in drills and wargames in response to Russia’s wargames in the region. The nation will conduct military drills from February 10 to February 20. Ukraine defence minister Oleksii Reznikov earlier this week said Bayraktar drones and anti-tank Javelin and NLAW missiles provided by foreign partners will also be used during the drills.
Ukraine was angered over Russia’s wargames in the Black Sea due to which it claimed that shipping was virtually stopped. “Such aggressive actions by the Russian Federation as part of its hybrid war against Ukraine are unacceptable. This is a significant and unjustified complication of international shipping, especially trade, which can cause complex economic and social consequences, especially for the ports of Ukraine,” the foreign ministry of Ukraine said in a statement. The statement was in response to Russian drills in the Black Sea and Azov Sea. Both the drills, one in Belarus and the other in the waters of Black Sea and Azov Sea have made Western allies concerned that these could be a precursor to an invasion.
Odessa, Pivdeny, Chornomorsk, Kherson, Mariupol and Berdyansk are important ports for Ukraine as it exports steel, grain and sunflower oil and of which it is one of the leading exporters. Ukraine decried Russian interference and said that it is a de-facto blockade imposed to weaken Ukraine’s economy.
Meanwhile, Russia and the US and its allies continue to add tensions as the crisis shows no signs of abating. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and UK foreign secretary Liz Truss clashed publicly as Truss said that 100,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s borders are a tool for intimidation. Lavrov said the conversation was held between a deaf and a mute person.
Biden continued to stress that it is necessary for Americans to leave Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine because of the threat from Russian forces and said that things could go ‘crazy’ at any moment.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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