The American guided missile destroyer USS Ross has entered the Ukrainian port of Odessa to take part in Exercise Sea Breeze 2021, an annual multinational maritime drill.
"This is the 21st iteration of the exercise where +30 countries will join together for interoperability training in the Black Sea", according to the official Twitter page of the Sea Breeze military drills.
The arrival of the USS Ross in Odessa follows Russia's National Defence Management Centre reporting that Russian Navy forces had begun to monitor the USS Ross' movements after the destroyer entered the Black Sea on 26 June.
BREAKING: 🇺🇸 @USNavy #USSRoss arrives in #Odesa #UKR to take part in #ExerciseSeaBreeze! This is the 21st iteration of the exercise where +30 countries will join together for interoperability training in the #BlackSea! #SB21 #SeaBreeze pic.twitter.com/CsbUQ9sWCs
— Exercise Sea Breeze (@ExSeaBreeze) June 27, 2021
The developments come after an incident in the Black Sea on 23 June, when a Russian patrol ship and a Su-24M fighter fired warning shots and dropped bombs along the HMS Defender's path following the UK warship sailing as far as 3 kilometres (2 miles) into Russian waters near the southernmost tip of Sevastopol.
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied that any incident took place and said that its ship was conducting an "innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law", chalking down the Russian firing nearby to a "gunnery exercise".
Yet, a BBC journalist who happened to be aboard the British warship appeared to dispute the MoD's story, insisting that he did see multiple Russian warplanes buzzing around the HMS Defender and that he heard gunfire.
Shortly afterward, the Russian Defence Ministry appealed to the Pentagon and the command of the UK's Naval forces, urging them to "be guided by reason" and to avoid dangerous actions that might "test" Russia's defences in the wake of the 23 June incident.
The 13-day Exercise Sea Breeze 2021, which kicks off on 28 June, involves about 5,000 servicemen and more than 30 ships from the US, Ukraine, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, and other countries.
