NATO has released footage showing how the U.S. Marines performed their first ever amphibious landing in Ukraine alongside their Ukrainian allies in the Black Sea.
”Fifteen Amphibious Assault Vehicles, packed with both U.S. and Ukrainian marines, secured a beach south of the port city of Odesa before heading inland as part of the annual multinational naval exercise Sea Breeze,” according to the video posted on NATO`s Facebook page.
This year the U.S. Navy deployed two ships, the USS Ross, a guided missile destroyer, and the USS Whidbey Island, which acted as a launching pad for the amphibious operation, it said.
The joint Ukrainian-U.S. military exercises Sea Breeze in the Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolayiv lasted from July 18 to July 30, 2016.
In addition to the Ukrainian and U.S. Navies, representatives of 11 other countries took part in the manoeuvers, namely Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
U.S. participation included over 350 sailors, the dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), a P-3C Orion (antisubmarine and maritime surveillance) aircraft, members of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) and embarked Marines aboard the USS Whidbey Island among others.
