Recently, information from the British Ministry of Defense stated that Britain and Norway plan to sign a new agreement to support the reconstruction of Ukraine in terms of "sea power". According to the British Ministry of Defense, the agreement aims to provide Ukraine with ships and vehicles, as well as provide military training to enhance the maritime combat capability of the Ukrainian Navy.
It is reported that the British Ministry of Defense also announced that it would hand over two Sanddown-class minesweepers to the Ukrainian Navy. "These vessels will help boost the strength of the Ukrainian Navy, support life-saving operations at sea, and facilitate the development of important export corridors," said Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. ”
Back in August 2023, the British Ministry of Defense completed the military training of about 1,000 marines in Ukraine. These trainings include training in landing operations with small landing craft. It is worth mentioning that Ukrainian soldiers have also been trained in the operation of individual anti-tank missiles, individual anti-aircraft missiles, mortars and reconnaissance drones, apparently in order to prepare in advance for the battle after the "beach-grabbing landing".
In addition to personnel training and auxiliary ships, the United Kingdom has also provided Ukraine with a large number of unmanned ships, according to Russia. Accordingly, the Ukrainian army has repeatedly attacked port facilities and ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United Kingdom and Ukraine had reached a naval cooperation agreement. In 2021, the two countries had planned to cooperate in the field of shipbuilding, joint design and construction**. However, due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, this plan was not implemented.
Some military experts are not optimistic about cooperation between Britain and Ukraine in the naval field. Zarikhin, deputy director of the CIS Institute of Countries, said: "It is difficult for the UK and Ukraine to achieve significant results. After all, building a navy is not just about building a sea-based missile launcher, and it's not just about defending the coastline. The core of building a navy is to build a fleet, and Ukraine does not currently have a full fleet. Therefore, the UK can only assist Ukraine in the formation of unmanned ships at present, but in the Black Sea, sea supremacy is still firmly in the hands of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. ”
In addition, even if the UK transfers only 2 minesweepers, there is considerable uncertainty about whether they will be successfully delivered to the Ukrainian Navy.
Ukraine is located near the Black Sea, and the only access to the sea in this area is the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey. It was through this waterway that ships could enter the Black Sea from the Mediterranean. Earlier in 2022, however, Turkey invoked the 1936 Convention on the Montreux Strait Regime as a basis for declaring itself a neutral country and therefore refusing to allow ships from any belligerent state to pass through the strait.
Of particular note is the fact that Turkey invoked this clause in November 2022 to reject Russia's Black Sea Fleet's request for passage. At that time, Russia reluctantly accepted this decision. However, if Turkey now allows the two minesweepers to pass through the Bosphorus, it will inevitably face accusations of "double standards" from the international community and may become the object of diplomatic retaliation by Russia.
It has been almost two years since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began, and the United Kingdom has been supplying the Ukrainian Navy with various military equipment. However, this equipment can only enter Ukraine through the rail and road systems of Europe. Even those unmanned boats that have achieved remarkable results are transported to the territory of Ukraine by land. Therefore, Britain's assistance to minesweepers may have a more important symbolic meaning at the political level, but the actual effect may be relatively limited.
Military experts analyzed that even if these minesweepers are successfully delivered to the Ukrainian Navy, they will at most be able to clear mines on some routes, and the threat to the Russian Black Sea Fleet will be minimal. At the same time, many infrastructure facilities on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine have either been destroyed by the Russian army or have been occupied by the Russian army. Therefore, whether the Ukrainian Navy can really put these minesweepers into service in the future may only be a distant .......