Ukraine war threatens to upset delicate Black Sea equilibrium
- Controlling the coastline would allow Russia to link up with its troops stationed in a separatist and Moscow-backed territory in Moldova
- If Russia conquers the Ukrainian coastline it would also create a direct point of contact between Moscow and Nato member Romania
In the Black Sea’s biggest port Constanta, the Romanian frigate Regele Ferdinand is preparing to set sail with tensions high as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to upend the regional balance of power.
With 240 crew and a helicopter on board, the Regele is due to depart next week for manoeuvres off Romania’s coast and in international waters.
“We are going to try not to contribute to an escalation” in tensions with Russia, frigate captain George-Victor Durea said, standing on the docks of the military port, not far from huge cranes moving cargo for commercial shipping.
The stakes are high: if Russia manages to conquer the entire Ukrainian coastline up to the Danube Delta – one of Europe’s principal shipping lanes – that would create a direct point of contact between Moscow and Nato member Romania.
If Russian forces take the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, they could “completely take the Ukrainian coast … and consolidate their hold on the Black Sea”, said Igor Delanoe, a specialist on the Russian navy at the Franco-Russian Observatory.