Baltic Sea drills involving NATO nations to focus on repelling Russian attack for the first time

NATO countries on the Baltic Sea as well as other nations from the United States-led military alliance will participate in a major naval drill involving some 30 ships and over 3,000 service members for the first time to practise how to respond to a Russian attack in the region, said the German navy chief on Friday (September 1).

About the upcoming navy drills

The upcoming drills will begin on September 9 and involve troops from all NATO countries on the Baltic Sea, plus soon-to-be member Sweden and non-Baltic allies which include the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

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During the two-week Northern Coasts exercise, the countries will practise amphibious operations and strikes from sea to land, reported Reuters. “We are sending a clear message of vigilance to Russia: Not on our watch,” Vice-Admiral Jan Christian Kaack told reporters in Berlin.

He added, “Credible deterrence must include the ability to attack.” The exercise will also focus on securing the sea routes through the Baltic Sea and will take place off the coasts of Latvia and Estonia.

“Finland and the Baltic states depend to almost 100% on the maritime supply routes through the Baltic Sea,” Kaack noted. He added, “Should the Suwalki Gap be blocked - and this can be done easily as there are only two roads and one railroad line - then we are left with the sea routes only, and that’s where we will then have to make our way through.”

The Suwalki Gap is a 65-kilometre narrow land corridor and the only connection between the Baltic states to Poland and NATO’s main territory in Europe.

Kaack also noted that the upcoming exercise will be the first exercise of this size that the German navy, which is also the biggest navy on the Baltic Sea, will command from its new maritime headquarters in Rostock.

The maritime base recently reached operational readiness and aims to act as a regional maritime headquarters for NATO capable of leading the alliance’s operations in the Baltic Sea in case of a conflict, said the German official.

Ships leave Ukrainian port Black Sea port under temporary corridor: Kyiv

Ukrainian deputy prime minister, on Friday (September 1) said that two cargo vessels have left a port near Odesa through the Black Sea temporary corridor for civilian vessels months after Russia formally backed out of the deal which allowed a safe-passage for ships carrying grain.

Oleksandr Kubrakov said Liberia-flagged Anna-Theresa and Marshall Islands-flagged Ocean Courtesy bulk carriers had left the port of Pivdennyi from the “humanitarian corridor” hugging the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.

The Anna-Theresa, according to the Ukrainian official, had been stuck in the Ukrainian port since February 22, 2022, and the Ocean Courtesy from February 16 of the same year.

The Anna-Theresa and Ocean Courtesy were carrying 56,000 metric tons of pig iron and 172,000 tons of iron ore concentrate, respectively, said Kubrakov, on social media.

(With inputs from agencies)

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