US ships in Black Sea as Putin threatens Ukraine
AMERICA last night deployed warships to the Black Sea amid rising fears of all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.
Moscow has sent tanks and missiles to the war-torn border where it now has some 20,000 troops. It warned any retaliation could mark ‘the beginning of the end’ for Ukraine.
After the US and Germany said they were increasingly worried about the military build- up, Russia insisted it could move its forces around its territory wherever it likes.
The White House authorised the deployment of warships after the Kremlin refused pleas to withdraw its troops from the area.
Footage yesterday showed Russian BUK anti-aircraft missile systems being moved by train close to the Ukrainian border. This weapon was used in rebel-held Donetsk region in 2014 to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, killing 298 people.
Other images show the nuclearcapable 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortar system being carried by train as well as support vehicles, tanks and howitzers. Russia has also moved warships into the Black Sea – for training drills, it says.
On the Ukrainian side, soldiers have dug trenches in preparation for a possible invasion.
The country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops on the frontline on Thursday.
Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Moscow is bitterly opposed to its former satellite forming closer ties with the EU and Nato.
In 2014 it invaded the east of the country and the Crimea region, claiming it was protecting Russians who live there. For months there have been sporadic clashes between Ukrainian troops and the Moscow-backed rebels in the Donbass region, violating a fragile ceasefire, with an estimated 13,000 dead since 2014. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation risked ‘full- scale combat operations’ and any retaliation could signal ‘the beginning of the end’ for Ukraine. He added: ‘Not a shot in the leg, but in the face.’
Yesterday, Turkey announced that two US warships will arrive in the Black Sea next week. Under a 1936 international agreement it controls access to the sea from the Mediterranean. The move prompted concern in Moscow, which claims that the Kremlin’s increased military presence should not be seen as a threat.
UK military commanders are said to be on high alert, with the Ukraine backed by Britain.
The US administration has described Russian military numbers in the region as the highest since 2014. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US is ‘increasingly concerned’ by ‘escalating Russian aggressions’ in Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to pull back troops to ‘de- escalate the situation’. Her plea was refused.
Mr Putin instead ‘drew attention to the provocative actions of Kiev’, the Kremlin said.
Ukraine receives support from Canada, Lithuania and Poland as well as Britain and the US, in a group known as the ‘Quint’. Last week, US President Joe Biden cited the group’s ‘unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression’.