Russia launching blockade of Ukraine Azov coastline, Turchynov says

Russia’s military-political leadership views the Azov-Black
Sea region as an important platform for its further expansion, Oleksandr
Turchynov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of
Ukraine, said on the council’s Facebook page on Aug. 9. “We see the Russian
Federation striving to practically launch a military-economic blockade of the
Azov coastline of Ukraine,” he said. Russia’s current military buildup is “a
brutal violation of international maritime law in the Azov Sea, which is
apparent in the illegal construction of the Kerch Bridge in particular and
growing incidents of detentions of domestic and foreign ships by Russian
military.”

Turchynov stressed the need for organizing and
strengthening the Azov coastline’s defense, as well as counteracting
provocations by Russian infantry and naval forces, during a council meeting
with the nation’s security and defense leaders, the Facebook statement said.
The Mariupol front is among the most dangerous for Ukraine, Turchynov said,
where it’s possible the Russians will conduct sea and land attacks with
airborne landing operations along the Azov coastline.

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine’s
military should be ahead of the curve in anticipating Russian aggression, yet
this is the latest example of the defense leadership taking a reactive pose. At
a Crimean youth conference last week, Sergei Glazev – a key adviser to Russian
President Putin on Ukraine – said that the failure “to liberate the Southeast”
was a “strategic mistake” by the Russian government in 2014. With its Azov Sea
strategy, we believe the Russian government is getting ready for the
possibility of correcting that mistake and will try to manufacture that
opportunity by creating instability in Ukraine, particularly during this
election season.