The American missile destroyer USS Ross entered the Black Sea on Saturday to participate in the annual Sea Breeze exercise, the US 6th operational fleet reported.
The destroyer can carry up to 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1.6 thousand km.
“The participation of USS Ross in the Sea Breeze naval exercise this year is a real demonstration of US support for Ukraine, which is needed today more than ever,” said US Charge d’Affaires in Ukraine Christina Queen.
During the exercise, combat operations at sea, on land, and in the air will be practiced, including the landing of troops, anti-submarine, and anti-aircraft warfare.
The day before, the US Navy missile destroyer USS Laboon which entered the Black Sea on 11 June exited the area. The British destroyer HMS Defender and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen are also in the Black Sea since June 14.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Russian military and border guards opened warning fire at the path of the destroyer HMS Defender, which violated the Russian border in the Black Sea near Cape Fiolent, Sevastopol in Crimea.
USS Ross, along with similar destroyers USS Roosevelt, USS Donald Cook, and USS Arleigh Burke, is permanently stationed in Europe at the Spanish Base Naval de Rota. Together with the Aegis missile defense, ground bases in Poland and Romania, the ships are part of the program for building a European phased adaptive missile defense system.