and this is it the biggest ship in Ukraine's new as of sea fleet which
Moscow says threatens its interests in the region
Donbass passed through the Kerch straits in late September without incident
adding weight to a fleet that previously consisted largely of these small patrol
boats one of the ship's officers tells us that since losing Crimea Ukraine's as
of Sea coastline has been left all but defenseless levana just saw both
witnessed at the moment Russia has many times more ships in this region than
Ukraine whether that's Coast Guard boats FSB Security Service vessels or Russia's
Black Sea Fleet you just can't compare it the ships
captured by Russia would you to join Ukraine's naval forces in Mariupol many
here know the men taken prisoner personally but sailors were not allowed
to speak to us on camera most of them began their service in
Crimea where Ukraine's Navy was once based when Russia annexed the peninsula
the sailors faced a choice stay put and swear allegiance to Russia or abandoned
their homes and leave to continue serving Ukraine something these men
chose to do unlike many of their former comrades Mariupol is the city the
sailors are called on to defend home to nearly half a million people marry Paul
stands in the shadow of the front line its future depends on the ability of
these huge steel plants to supply the rest of the world keeping tens of
thousands of people in work but that's now under threat
Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to suffocate the region economically using
trumped-up Security checks to bring civilian shipping to a standstill
these checks can take weeks and have already seen many international shipping
companies decide to stay clear of the Azov sea altogether
one of the port's engineers takes us along the unusually quiet key side trade
was already dropping significantly before last weekend's incident since
then Ukrainian officials insist not a single civilian ship has been able
to pass in or out of the Azov sea from Ukrainian ports even though the scars
the last conflict are still all too visible here for now it seems like
weariness is the prevailing mood in Mariupol so everything's all right
people have got used to this kind of thing already for us this doesn't feel
unusual so nothing's really changed for us so far we haven't seen any big
changes I don't see any changes for me personally all I've noticed is that we
got more police patrols than I'd like what they say just a week ago few people
outside this part of Europe had ever heard of the Sea of Azov let alone
Mariupol now the fate of some 20 Ukrainian
sailors and the port behind me has been catapulted to the top of the
international and gender enough to see g20 meetings canceled and to put fresh
sanctions against Russia back on the table but strange as it may sound the
mood here in Mariupol is karma the Ukraine's capital Kiev for the past four
years checkpoints and the sound of shelling had become part of people's
everyday lives here with the frontline just 20 kilometers down the road many
people here in mareep all are seemingly unwilling and unable to believe that a
new escalation could be just around the corner back on the donbass they're
hoisting the ceremonial flags preparing for the ship's birthday with martial law
in place it may be the only celebration these sailors will have for some time to
come
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