Source: The Jamestown Foundation
By Ihor Kabanenko
On May 18, Moscow released a navigation alert (NAVAREA 0423/18—reprinted by the Ukrainian government as coastal warning PRIP 173) for a section of the Sea of Azov, cautioning that Russian naval training exercises would make the area dangerous for maritime passage from 0500 to 1700 UTC, on May 21–23 (Hydro.gov.ua, May 22).
The zone, which occupies 2,000 square kilometers, has been closed to shipping traffic. Though the announcement quickly drew the attention of Ukrainian news outlets (Obozrevatel.com, May 21), the Russian state media has so far kept silent.
According to the NAVAREA 0423/18 warning, the training area is located in the northern part of the Sea of Azov, in close proximity to Ukraine’s coastline; notably, it intrudes several kilometers into Ukrainian territorial waters.
The Kremlin’s position is that Russian naval assets are allowed to carry out military drills in this area based on a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Russia, signed in 2003 (Zakon.rada.gov.ua, December 24, 2003). This agreement classifies the Sea of Azov as a historically internal sea of both states, with freedom of navigation guaranteed to Ukrainian and Russian merchant vessels and warships.
At the same time, however, this cited document includes a clear provision that “the Sea of Azov is delimited by a line of state borders in accordance with the agreement between the Parties,” thus undermining Moscow’s case.
Read more at: https://jamestown.org/program/russian-naval-exercises-in-sea-of-azov-a-prelude-to-hybrid-style-invasion/