KIEV, June 8 (AVN) - Ukraine is mounting its naval border guard group in the Azov Sea, Rear Admiral Igor Alferyev, naval forces commander of the Ukrainian border troops, said on Thursday.
The Donetsk naval border guard detachment has recently adopted two guard boats of the Grif type and another one of the Kalkan type, Alferyev told the Military News Agency. They will be based in the Mariupol port, he added.
The boats can hit the speed of up to 50 knots, Alferyev went on. They bear modern armament and are capable of gathering on and detaining any ship. The main missions of the Ukrainian border guards in the Azov Sea is border control, protection of the country's economic interests and combating poachers and smugglers, he said.
According to Alferyev, the Moree research and production enterprise based in the Crimean town of Feodosia has laid the keel of two more Katran guard boats which will also be used in the Azov Sea.
Russia and Ukraine are currently holding negotiations to define the status of the sea and the Kerch Strait which connects the Azov and the Black Seas.