Ten years ago, on July 28, 2008, the 11th annual NATO naval exercise known as Sea Breeze was co-hosted by Ukraine and the United States at the port city of Odesa.
The 2008 exercise attracted armed forces from 16 countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Greece, Germany, Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia, Norway, Romania, the United States, Turkey and France. More than 2,000 servicemen arrived in Ukraine, along with 16 ships from six countries and 17 aircraft from four countries.
That year, numerous protest actions, seemingly organized by the local population with support from the Progressive Socialist Party, the Communist Party of Ukraine and others, sprang up in Odesa, Mykolayiv, Zaporizhia and Crimea. The aim was to voice opposition to Ukraine holding military exercises.
NATO vessels were prevented from leaving the port of Odesa for three hours on July 21 after 10 boats from the Bratstvo organization blocked the exit from the port, where foreign military ships entered. On July 22, the third stage of the naval maneuvers began in Crimea, as well as in the Odesa and Mykolayiv oblasts.
The main stage of the exercise envisaged force deployment and a peacekeeping operation. “The compatibility of all the participants in Sea Breeze-2008 at sea, on land and in the air is good confirmation of efficient command on the part of the joint staff. Everybody acts as a single team, and this gives us confidence in successful fulfillment of the tasks set,” said Vice-Admiral Viktor Maksimov of Ukraine, Sea Breeze-2008 commander.
Previously, at the 2006 Sea Breeze, several hundred anti-NATO protesters in the city of Feodosiya on the Crimean peninsula forced the shutdown of the exercises. The protests were organized by local chapters of the Party of Regions, the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc and the Russian Community of Crimea.
This year, Sea Breeze 2018, which began on July 9 and has expanded to include 19 countries, 29 surface vessels, one submarine, 25 aircraft and 3,000 personnel, is being held in Odesa and Mykolayiv oblasts. Among the U.S.’s 6th Fleet participating are the USS Mount Whitney (the flagship of the fleet) and the destroyer USS Porter.
Source: “NATO fleet blocked in Crimea,” (Ukrinform), and “Sea Breeze maneuvers continue,” (Ukrinform), The Ukrainian Weekly, July 27, 2008.