Posted on 03/02/2014 7:35:02 AM PST by kronos77
Ukrainian Navy flagship Hetman Sahaidachny has reportedly refused orders from Kiev and defected to the Russian side, a Russian senator has claimed in an interview with Ivestia Daily.
“Ukraine’s Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew’s flag,” Sen. Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs, told Izvestia. “The crew has fulfilled the order by the chief commander of Ukraine’s armed forces Viktor Yanukovych.”
The ship recently took part in counter-piracy patrols with EU naval forces and was sailing towards its homeport of Sevastopol, Naval Today reports.
Ousted Ukraine President Yanukovych, under Kremlin protection in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, railed against those who forced him out of power in a press conference on Feb. 28, calling them “radical mobsters” who took over the country.
“I believe that the Ukrainian parliament is not legitimate,” he said.
This is a developing story, and this post will be updated as we learn more.
Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, has reportedly refused to follow orders from Kiev, and come over to Russia’s side and is returning home after taking part in NATO operation in the Gulf of Aden flying the Russian naval flag.
There has been conflicting information on where exactly the vessel is, but a Russian senator has confirmed to Izvestia daily that the frigate defected to the Russian side.
“Ukraine’s Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew’s flag,” Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs, told Russia’s Izvestia.
He said the flagship is on its way back to the Black Sea after drills in the Mediterranean. “The crew has fulfilled the order by the chief commander of Ukraine’s armed forces Viktor Yanukovich,” he added.
The move comes after the Navy command resigned Friday. Self-appointed President Aleksandr Turchinov made Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky the new Navy Chief, a statement published on the President’s website Saturday said.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Prime Minister Ukraine’s self-imposed government, had earlier asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to let the frigate through the Bosporus strait, according to the Kiev Times. The ship captain and the head of Ukraine’s contingent in the operation, Rear Admiral Andrey Tarasov disobeyed orders from Kiev.
The Hetman Sahaidachny returns to Sevastopol, Crimea after taking part in a joint counter-piracy operation with NATO and the EU off the Horn of Africa, reported UNN on Friday, citing Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. On February 26, after crossing the Suez Canal, the ship entered the Mediterranean Sea and was expected to be in Sevastopol in early March.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
Defects To Russia
And half of the Ukrainian Army.
Ping.
This happens when soldiers don’t get paid.
Ukrainian Army, does not exist no more as a combat force. Amateur mistake of new regime - instant sacking of commanding officers, appointing of party stooges of new regime - well - just like Stalin purges...
That’s the first thing we should blow-up, since it doesn’t belong to Russia it’s like a freebie.
If ships were leaders, this one would be Putin. Obama would be a rowboat.
No, and Thank God on that one too.
” a Russian senator has claimed in an interview with Ivestia Daily. “
Waiting for verification
That’s the first thing we should blow-up
**********
The only thing we’re going to blow up is our own national credibility and respect. The rest of the world is watching our fumbling and bumbling. Obama has destroyed our stature in the world.
Do you think we will see a “French Fleet at Toulon” or “German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow” Moment?
“Does anyone know if the Ukrainians have nukes?”
No, they don’t.
Their nuclear weaponry was dismantled after 1991.
If it’s true, that’s huge news.
A big blow to the putchists in Kiev.
Would make a good propaganda story - after we blow it up.
Nice looking Frigate.
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