On Thursday, search and rescue vessel A500 Donbas and the tugboat A830 Korets departed from the Western Naval Base of the Ukrainian Navy in Odesa to Berdiansk, where they will become the basis for the new naval base of the Ukrainian fleet in the Sea of Azov, the 'Ukrainian militaristic portal' media outlet said referring to its own sources.

"It is expected that the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov will take place through the Kerch Strait controlled by the Russians. According to the 2003 agreement, the Sea of Azov is an inland sea of two states, according to which civil and military vessels under the flags of Ukraine and the Russian Federation can pass through the strait and go to their ports. This was repeatedly used by the Russian Federation, and now with the aggravation of the situation on the Azov Sea, the command of the Ukrainian Navy decided to take advantage of it in accordance with the needs that have arisen," the message reads.

The ship Donbas is planned to be used to strengthen the fleet infrastructure in the Azov Sea. So, it is possible to place the headquarters of the future base, places for servicemen, warehouses and other necessary premises on it, which are absent in the region today.

"Starting from the transition near the occupied Sevastopol, Ukrainian ships began to accompany the patrol ship of the Coast Guard of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation - Ametist of Project 22460, later another unidentified ship joined it," it says.