With Ukraine's blessing, Russia to beef up its Black Sea Fleet

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | 10/26/2010 | Fred Weir

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Just a year ago Ukraine was insisting that Russia would be required to vacate the Crimean naval base of Sevastopol when its old lease expired in 2017. That would have posed serious problems for Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, which is headquartered there. But today, after pro-Moscow President President Viktor Yanukovych took office in February, Russia appears completely secure in its military foothold on Ukrainian soil until at least 2042. In a quiet announcement Monday, Moscow revealed that – with Ukrainian consent – it will "upgrade" its Black Sea fleet over the next decade with at least 18 new warships, including six new frigates, six submarines, two giant troop-landing ships, and new squadrons of naval aircraft.

"I am quite sure that the Russian Black Sea fleet will stay in Ukraine till doomsday," says Kirill Frolov, an expert with the official Russian Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Russian naval upgrade is likely to cause waves around the Black Sea, which is bordered by NATO members Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Georgia.

The NATO aspirations of Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics, had stirred strong concerns in Moscow. But with NATO rules stipulating that member countries may not host non-NATO foreign military bases on their soil, Mr. Yanukovych's agreement to prolong Russia's grip on Sevastopol would seem to block Ukraine from even considering joining the alliance for decades to come.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Yanukovich is such a sleasy Russian toady. If we think we have problems, reflect that Yanukovich has spent time in prison.

[BilLies]

The Obamanation in the White House and his administration are reversing the growth of freedom in eastern Europe that was started and achieved under Reagan.
The Soviet spies of the thirties and forties would be proud of the Obamanation.

[stefanbatory]

I guess they need to replace the ships that were wrecked by the Georgians, huh? GO DAWGS!

[Old Teufel Hunden]

I don’t think this bodes well for Georgia. The one in Eastern Europe that is...