On 29 June, the Georgian authorities announced that the Georgian Coast Guard would participate in the Sea Breeze 2021 annual multinational maritime exercise in the Black Sea.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) will partake in the exercise. According to the MIA, two patrol ships Dioskuria and Ochamchire, are involved in the drills. The Special Operations Forces Dive Team will participate in a naval diving exercise in the port of Odessa. Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is also taking part in the maritime exercise.
The annual drills hold amphibious warfare, land manoeuvre warfare, diving operations, maritime interdiction operations, air defence, special operations integration, anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue operations involving sea, land, and air components. It aims to enhance interoperability among the participating forces and increase the joint capabilities to ensure regional maritime security. The exercises would involve the highest number of participating thirty-two nations from six continents providing 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft, and 18 special operations and dive teams to the exercise.
In a reaction to the largest NATO maritime exercise, the Russian authorities tested the readiness of its air defence systems in Crimea. Russia deployed about 20 warplanes and helicopters, including Su-24M bombers, as well as S-400 and Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems in the tests. “The Black Sea Fleet is doing a number of things to monitor the actions of ships from NATO and other countries taking part in Sea Breeze 2021,” the National Defence Management Centre said in a statement.
Russia called for the Sea Breeze military exercises to be cancelled and the Russian Ministry of Defence warned that it would react to the exercises if necessary to ensure national security. On 28 June, the Kremlin denounced “the scale and aggressiveness” of the drills which “hardly contribute to security in the Black Sea region.” On 23 June, the Russian military fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship HMS Defender, who was on its way to Georgia, to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea. The UK rejected Russia’s account of the incident and has claimed its Royal Navy destroyer was making a routine journey through an internationally recognised travel lane and had remained in Ukrainian waters near Crimea. Later, Moscow warned NATO members the UK and the US against “tempting fate” by sending warships to the Black Sea.
