Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said he will instruct the military to speed up the construction of the East naval base in the Azov Sea.
During a working trip to Berdiansk, Zaporizhia region, on Saturday, the minister and the Ukrainian Armed Forces chief commander Valeriy Zaluzhny inspected progress in construction of the base, berthing infrastructure and future barracks for the personnel of a separate marine infantry battalion.
“The development of our Navy in general is one of our priorities. To that end, not only public resources will be used, this will be a military diplomatic task of boosting interaction with partners. After the trip we will thoroughly analyze the current situation. Relevant instructions will be given to speed up the construction of the naval base in Berdiansk,” Reznikov said.
He recalled that two U.S. Island-class patrol boats were now en route to Ukraine.
“I will note that two Island-class boats are already on a mission as part of the national fleet. One should note our cooperation with Turkey, our strategic partner in the Black Sea. Recently, a Bayraktar unmanned system entered service in the navy and today a Turkish shipyard has started building the hull of the main ADA-class corvette for our navy. What is extremely relevant, I think, is that today the Ukrainian Navy is armed with the Neptune anti-ship [missile] system. I personally do whatever is in my control for this system to be deployed soon to patrol southern borders,” Reznikov said.
