As a result of the Sea Breeze 2020 international military exercise, its participants gained experience in remote planning and control of multinational forces, which showed a high level of interoperability and readiness to carry out common tasks, Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Captain of the first rank and head of the exercises from the Ukrainian side Oleksiy Doskato said.

"Unfortunately, this year the global pandemic has changed our plans. However, together we have overcome this challenge. We have changed the format of the exercises, leaving unchanged their main goal – to improve security in the Black Sea region. We also gained experience in remote planning and management of the use of multinational forces, which showed a high level of our interoperability and readiness to carry out common tasks," he said during a telephone briefing on Monday.

Doskato also said that the participants in the exercises successfully completed a wide range of tasks for tactical maneuvering, anti-submarine defense, universal defense of ships at sea crossing and operations to intercept and ensure the safety of operations at sea and resupply. They worked out the remote integration of headquarters, the conditional defeat of a naval target by the units of attack aviation, the destruction of the target by a unit of naval aviation, Mi-8 helicopters in 2020.

"In general, we conducted more than 100 naval combat exercises, the total flotation of the ships amounted to more than 1,500 nautical miles. The total flight time was more than 50 hours. The exercise plan was successfully done, there were no disruptions or changes in the plan. More than 2,000 personnel, about 23 surface ships and 19 aircraft took part in the exercise," the deputy commander said.

He also said that the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze series exercises, which have been held since 1997, are an important factor in strengthening interaction and regional security.

"The preparation measures we have taken have once again demonstrated the importance of security issues in the Black Sea region for the world community, our unity in views on ensuring peace and stability, protecting free shipping and the rule of international law," Doskato said.

According to him, this is especially important at the moment, when the situation in the region is tense, and Russia is carrying out aggression against Ukraine, occupied the Ukrainian Crimea and ignores all norms of international law.