Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered the Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff to come up with proposals on possible improvements of Ukraine's combat capabilities in the Kherson region and along the country's entire Black Sea coast.

"I order that the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces submit their proposals in terms of a considerable enhancement of Ukraine's military capabilities in the Kherson region and along the entire Black Sea coast," Poroshenko said in his address published by the presidential press service on Friday.

Russia has significantly stepped up its military presence in the region and is turning Crimea "into a large military base that poses a threat, including a nuclear one, not only to Ukraine, but to all the countries in the Black Sea region," Poroshenko said.