(Reuters) – British warships will sail to the Black Sea in May amid mounting tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Sunday Times reported, citing senior naval sources.
The deployment is aimed at showing solidarity with Ukraine and Britain’s NATO allies, the newspaper reported https://bit.ly/32pc4BK.
One Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an undercover Type 23 frigate will leave the Royal Navy’s task force in the Mediterranean and depart across the Bosphorus for the Black Sea, according to the report.
RAF F-35B lightning planes and Merlin submarine helicopters will be ready on the task force’s flagship, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, to support the warships in the Black Sea, the report said.
Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have escalated amid build-up of Russian troops along the border and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the army and pro-Russian separatists.
British Defense Department officials were not immediately available for comment.
A ministry spokesman told the newspaper that the British government was working closely with Ukraine to monitor the situation, and continued to call on Russia to escalate.
“The United Kingdom and our international allies are steadfast in our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the spokesman quoted the spokesman as saying.
(Reported by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; edited by Daniel Wallis)