This year, in the context of the global epidemiological situation, the preparation and, in fact, the conduct of exercises have undergone significant format changes.

This year, in the context of the global epidemiological situation, the preparation and, in fact, the conduct of exercises have undergone significant format changes.

During this week the final conference of planning of multinational exercises “Sea Breeze-2020” took place in Odessa.

At the international level, in the format of online communication relevant to the pandemic, representatives of the countries, structures and agencies of the participants conducted the final coordination of plans, participants and areas of maneuvers.

“On behalf of the Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, we addressed the command of the 6th US fleet with a proposal to change the format of Sea Breeze in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. They fully supported our initiative, because the main thing is to preserve the life and health of the military. Therefore, this year we are waiting for the so-called contactless “Sea Breeze”. What does it mean? We are talking about the complete exclusion of the coastal phase from the action plan so that the military personnel of partner countries and Sea Breeze participants do not contact with each other. In addition, the multinational headquarters will not be deployed,” explains the Head of Exercises from Ukraine, Captain of the 1st rank, Oleksii Doskato, - So, the number of participating countries that will take part in the exercises has changed. Today there are about 10 of them. ”

Even the traditional public closing and opening ceremonies of this year's exercises will be covered only through a broadcast on the official Facebook page of the exercises.

The maritime component will take the form of several days of joint maneuvers out at sea. There will be a meeting at the so-called rendezvous point and training exercises. Ships of partner countries will be at Ukrainian ports only if refueling is necessary. Of course, without any contact with the civilian population.

As usual, the naval training will end with a fotex - a special exercise, when the entire international ship-boat set is lined up at sea with the streaming of national flags. After greeting and thanking each other, the ships will drift apart on the orders of their commanders.

The practical phase of the exercises has been reduced to one week in July.

7 units of the ship-boat crew, the special operations units of the Odessa and Izmail Coast Guard Detachments, two aircraft and a helicopter of the Odessa Separate Aviation Squadron will take part on behalf of the State Border Guard Service.

Representatives of the State Border Guard Service will take part in international tactical groups, where the leadership of the elements in turn is given to different participants. In this way, each commander and crew has the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to apply NATO standards, to interact with foreign partners in international operations.

Among the types of drills: surface picture monitoring and control of civil navigation, tactical maneuvering, training to maintain communication in multinational groups (radio and light methods), counter the attack of high-speed small targets, practical artillery fire on sea and air targets, interaction and support of aviation to the forces of the maritime component. The stopping and inspection of a suspicious vessel, the shipboard damage control and assistance to a ship in disaster will be practiced in these exercises exclusively within one structure and country, to limit contacts and exclude the possibility of infection.

Additional, so-called pandemic challenges are interpreted and perceived by training participants as an element of task complexity, but are mandatory.

The task of the exercise command will be to ensure high-quality operational communication through modern means of communication, lighting systems and to ensure clear coordination of actions of diverse forces with a   common language of communication, according to common standards, with a common purpose.

  “The present-day realities show that the tasks of international cooperation to ensure peace and security in the crisis region can relate not only to conducting exclusively military operations according to NATO standards. How, in the conditions of the rapid spread of coronavirus infection around the world, international forces must operate together and provide the necessary support to a country in which part the war continues. How to localize the conflict in the crisis region and not infect your personnel - these and many other nuances of the situation in the world, now bring to our planned activities an element of external “free play”, - said a participant of the coordination conference from the Regional Directorate of Coast Guard Yurii Nechyporuk. "But we will only benefit from the skills acquired in such difficult conditions, because we are becoming more experienced and stronger in performing our daily tasks.”