DefenceTalkThe tugboats came in the evening, carrying three dozen Russian sailors and pro-Russian militiamen who climbed aboard the Ternopil and told the crew to leave. The captain of the Ternopil in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea lined up his crew of 91 men, thanked them for their service and told them that they were […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraines-navy-at-end-of-rope-in-crimea-59108/

DefenceTalkFrance has suspended most of its military cooperation with Russia, the French defence minister said Friday, as Paris was still mulling whether to nix the sale of two Mistral warships to Moscow. Paris has suspended “the majority of its military cooperation with Russia” in the wake of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-suspends-most-military-cooperation-with-russia-59106/

DefenceTalkChina’s President Xi Jinping touches down in the Netherlands on Saturday for his first-ever Europe tour, with the continent in a diplomatic frenzy after Russia’s absorption of the Crimea. Xi is expected to land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport shortly after noon (1100 GMT), where he’ll be welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-xi-on-first-europe-tour-as-ukraine-crisis-deepens-59103/

DefenceTalkA total of 72 military units in Crimea have hoisted Russian flags instead of Ukrainian and applied to join the Russian armed forces, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. “Yesterday, 72 military units almost in full strength decided to join the Russian armed forces. We are now dealing with service and citizenship issues of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/72-crimean-military-units-request-joining-russia-59122/

DefenceTalkGermany on Wednesday halted a major deal to provide a fully equipped training camp to Russian forces, saying any arms trading with Moscow was currently “indefensible”. Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel announced the suspension of the Rheinmetall project as Moscow tightened its grip on the flashpoint Crimean peninsula. The German government said in a statement it was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-halts-major-arms-deal-with-russia-59098/

DefenceTalkUkrainian servicemen filed out of navy headquarters in Sevastopol on Wednesday with tears in their eyes after the base was seized by pro-Moscow militants, Russian troops and Cossack forces. The assault began when some 200 unarmed militants — some of them in balaclavas — sawed through a fence and overran the base before heavy heavily […]https://www.defencetalk.com/tears-and-threats-as-ukrainians-quit-navy-hq-59100/

DefenceTalkParis will consider canceling a 1.4-billion-euro deal to deliver two Mistral-class warships to the Russian Navy if Moscow provokes further escalation in Ukraine, the French foreign minister has said. In the interview with France’s TF1, Laurent Fabius denied the legitimacy of Sunday’s referendum in Crimea to join Russia and urged Moscow to take urgent measures […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-may-scrap-russian-warship-deal-over-ukraine-crisis-59076/

DefenceTalkNATO said several of its websites were targeted in a “significant” cyber attack on Saturday that was claimed by Ukrainian hackers in what appeared to be the latest bout of virtual warfare linked to the country’s crisis. Spokeswoman for the military alliance Oana Lungescu said on Twitter that the websites had been hit by “a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-websites-targeted-in-attack-claimed-by-ukrainian-hackers-59055/

DefenceTalkA US Navy guided-missile destroyer will remain in the Black Sea to conduct more exercises with allied ships, its commander said on Saturday, the eve of a breakaway vote in Crimea. The USS Truxtun this week conducted joint exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian naval forces just a few hundred kilometers (miles) away from the disputed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-destroyer-to-conduct-more-black-sea-drills-commander-59058/

DefenceTalkThe Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad on Friday floated out the first in a series of six Project 11356 frigates being built for the Black Sea Fleet, the company said. The Admiral Grigorovich was laid down in December 2010. Four more ships of the same class are in various stages of construction […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-floats-out-new-frigate-for-black-sea-fleet-59039/