This weekend saw the conclusion of NATO’s Sea Breeze 2021 naval exercise in the Black Sea. According to information released by the Brussels-based alliance, the 13 day exercise included roughly 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft and 18 special operations and dive teams from 32 countries.
The drill commenced only days after the British navy’s HMS Defender was fired upon by Russian aircraft as it made its way through the waters off the coast of Crimea in an ostensible show of support for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
Meantime, Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian and American ground forces will convene in western Ukraine for another military exercise. According to Reuters, the drill, “Three Swords-2021,” will involve “more 1,200 servicemen and more than 200 combat vehicles and will last from 17 to 30 July at Yavoriv training ground in Lviv region.”
The center of the action, Yavoriv, is where the US and Ukraine operate a joint military base called the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine base. It might be worth asking: How many Americans know that we have a military base in Ukraine? How many know that American taxpayer dollars account for 90 percent of foreign military aid to Ukraine? Läs artikel