Capt. (ret.) Andriy Ryzhenko, retired from the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the rank of Navy Captain, served over 35 years at sea and ashore: aboard surface warships, at Ukrainian Navy HQ on maritime tactics and PfP exercises, as defence and strategic planner. He also worked on Ukrainian Navy transformation to Euro-Atlantic standards and on contribution to NATO-led operations and NATO Response Forces, served in NATO on partner nations units’ evaluation methodology (OCC E&F) at SHAPE (Mons, Belgium), and developed maritime aspects of National Security Strategy in Ukraine.
The article examines the current stance and military balance between the Russian and NATO forces in the Baltic and the Black Sea regions, as well as Russian actions to undermine the security of the Black Sea region. The current capacity of the Russian forces in the occupied Crimea and the Kremlin’s power projection are studied.
