Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an official visit to the southeastern coastal oblast of Zaporizhia on April 11. During his trip, local officials familiarized the commander-in-chief with the operational situation in the Sea of Azov. Additionally, Mr. Zelenskyy visited the port of Berdiansk, located in close proximity to the Russian coast and only 67 kilometers (across the sea) from the village of Dolzhanskaya, in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai (Kommersant, April 12).
Due to its important geostrategic location, Berdiansk was chosen as the site for the Ukrainian Naval Forces’ new naval base “East.” The eastern branch of Ukraine’s navy is presently based in Mykolayiv (upriver of the Black Sea coast and northwest of the occupied Crimean peninsula); but it is expected to be redeployed to Berdiansk in the near future in order to protect Ukrainian civil and military navigation in the Azov Sea from Russian impediment.