Media reports two NATO planes, 3 ships arrive in Odesa for drills

Published July 10, 2017 at 11:45 am

(Archive photo) The Ukrainian Navy Hetman Sahaidachnyi frigate (R) and United States Navy missile destroyer Donald Cook (DDG-75) are moored near one another during the international drill Sea Breeze-2015 in southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

Photo by AFP

NATO planes and ships arrived in Odesa last weekend for the Sea Breeze 2017 U.S.-Ukrainian exercises, the Odesa media reported.

“Three ships and two warplanes arrived in Odesa on July 9 for the Sea Breeze 2017 exercises,” the local edition Dumska said on its website.

The F241 Turgutreis ship, a submarine, and the NL 214 landing ship arrived in the Odesa port from Turkey at 11 a.m.

Besides, two NATO planes landed in Odesa airport on July 8. The U.S. C-130J Hercules brought divers, and the Hungarian C-17A Globemaster III transported several dozen servicemen of other professions and training gear, the Dumska said.

The Ukrainian army and its foreign partners are finalizing preparations for the Sea Breeze 2017 drills, which will take place in the northwestern part of the Black Sea and the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions on July 10-23.