The Kremlin has again warned against a build-up of NATO warships in the Black Sea, while saying it is monitoring a noticeable increase in Western military vessels.
"Of course, the concentrated presence of NATO ships - we are paying attention to Bulgaria and Romania, the coastal states that are members of the (NATO) alliance - of course this represents, especially in the current situation, an additional threat to Russia," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing Thursday.
"Of course, Russia will take all necessary measures to ensure its own security," he added. Throughout the course of the war, Ukraine forces have used both aerial missiles as well as sea drones to attack Russia's Black Sea fleet.
Ukraine's President Zelensky has meanwhile vowed to not let Russia dominate the Black Sea. This week he unveiled a new 'maritime security strategy' in cooperation with the West.
The strategy seeks to ensure "readiness, comprehensive and effective prevention and response to threats to the maritime security of Ukraine arising in coastal areas, in its maritime spaces, as well as other areas of the World Ocean to which the economic and other interests of Ukraine extend."
A key measure is that it proposes "ensuring the permanent presence of NATO forces in the Black Sea."
Ukraine military officials have lately claimed that Russia is pulling much of its naval assets from the Crimean coast amid recent successful drone strikes there:
Dmitry Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, made the statement in a Facebook post on Monday.
"The last patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is leaving our Crimea right now. Remember this day," he said, per a translation by the state-affiliated Ukrainian news outlet Militarnyi.
Ukraine previously claimed it has destroyed up to one-third of Russia's Black Fleet, likely also using Western-supplied missile and drone systems.
While the extent to which this is accurate remains unclear, Russia has long been seeking to protect its docked and deployed naval forces with extra precautions.
For example, military observers have confirmed Russian ships are increasingly using the more protected Sea of Azov to fire missiles at Ukraine, to prevent additional losses.
