navy commander says fleet will counter russia   




the host of one of russia<u+2019>s main fleets until the secession of crimea, calling ukraine<u+2019>s own navy a mess would be an understatement. built around aging soviet hand-me-downs, the ships they did have largely defected along with crimea. 




indeed, while they have some small attack boats and the like, it would be fair to classify ukraine<u+2019>s entire <u+201c>navy<u+201d> as one ship, the hetman sahaydachnyy, their flagship, which is in the process of being repaired and refitted. even this ship is just a frigate, but apart from coastal patrol boats and tug boats, it is what<u+2019>s left. 




ukrainian navy commander vice admiral ihor voronchenko is playing up the repairs and upgrades to their ship as the beginning of a major increase in capacity which will allow them to <u+201c>counter russia<u+201d> in the black sea. the us is bankrolling part of this effort with $30 million in aid. 




by contrast, russia<u+2019>s black sea fleet includes four frigates, a guided missile destroyer, and an even larger guided missile cruiser, the moskva, which is roughly four times the size of ukraine<u+2019>s ship. beyond that, russia has half a dozen submarines in the black sea, along with the usual smaller boats. 




nato in general and the us in particular have talked up their desire to counter russia<u+2019>s black sea fleet, but the ukrainian navy seems far from a realistic counter in and of itself, and the us funding appears primarily aimed at buying more influence with the ukrainian government than at trying to develop their ship as a serious fighting force.
us pledges $30 million to rebuild ukraine<u+2019>s navy
jason ditz