The final planning and coordination of forces and facilities as well as the constituent elements for the training exercises to be conducted in the area of the Danube this autumn took place in the traditional quarantine form of a video conference.

The final planning and coordination of forces and facilities as well as the constituent elements for the training exercises to be conducted in the area of the Danube this autumn took place in the traditional quarantine form of a video conference.

Representatives of the Ukrainian and Romanian exercise headquarters will operate within their national contingent this year, training elements will also be as isolated as possible: landing of observation teams, rescuing people overboard, providing first aid - all contact elements - exclusively within national forces.

At the same time, maneuvers of the ships and boats, air defense of the ship in specific conditions of river navigation, ensuring the safety of civil navigation, work of the minesweeping group and other contactless tasks will be performed in the usual mode.

Traditionally, all training elements are as relevant as possible to the current threats and challenges that may be posed by the combined forces. Thus, analyzing the situation of the last few years, when due to active floods and changes in the water level in the Danube, in different parts of the river, from the coast areas to the mouth found artillery shells, sea mines and other explosive "echoes" of former battles of World Wars I and II. During the exercise, a decision was made to test the operation of the minesweeper group and detonation of mines.

It should be noted that the main feature of the Danube maneuvers is to test the interaction of the Navy of Ukraine and Romania with the direct engaging ships and boats of the border guard agencies of two countries, as the Danube is a river border and border guards are the key to its peaceful functioning as a transport artery, as recreation areas, tourism, industry, fishing, etc., within the current legislation.

But in case of aggravation of the situation, the necessity to involve force support of the fleet, we must understand each other well, operate according to common algorithms and standards, - Yurii Nechyporuk, a representative of the Maritime Regional Directorate at the exercise headquarters stated, it is the main reason why the Maritime Guard is always actively involved in training according to NATO standards, proactively offers exercise elements with the maximum opportunity to share experiences with the European Union.

Ships and boats of the Izmail Maritime Guard Detachment will be involved in the Riverine 2020 exercises from the Maritime Guard of the State Border Guard Service. For the newly formed team, this is another experience of independent participation in international exercises and the development of a close partnership with Romanian colleagues, which will also involve one border boat. In July, they successfully passed the first exam during the multinational exercise “Sea Breeze – 2020”.

It should be recalled that the Ukrainian-Romanian exercise «Riverine» was launched at the two-sided initiative of the Ukrainian and Romanian parties and was held for the first time in 2018.