Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, that has reportedly announced it will no longer follow orders from Kiev but will only serve the independent republic of Crimea, is in Greece, in the Naval station of Souda, in Crete, according to reports.
According to defencenet.gr, the frigate, that was expected to be in Sevastopol in early March, has been in Souda, Greece since 28 February, the day the independent movement of Crimea emerged. The frigate originaly planned to remain in Greece until next Wednesday but it is unknown what will now happen.
The Hetman Sahaidachny crew issued yesterday an announcement, saying that it will no longer take orders from Kiev but will only serve the independent republic of Crimea.
Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs of the Russian Duma, told Izvestia daily.: “Ukraine’s Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew’s flag.” However, this is reportedly false since the ship never raised the Russian flag.
Ukrainian media reports indicated that Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk asked the Greek government to forbid the departure of the vessel and the Turkish government not to allow the frigate to pass through the Strait of Bosporus.
According to defencenet.gr, Russia said no one can forbid the frigate to leave the naval station of Souda and warned that if Greece tries to do so, the reduction in the price of natural gas agreed between the two countries would be at stake.
On the other hand, the Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine issued a statement saying that the frigate «Hetman Sahaidachny» has not stopped taking orders from the Ukrainian government.
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