Ukraine will respond to possible Russian provocations in Black Sea – military spox

Ukraine is ready for a possible Russian false flag operation in the Black Sea and will promptly respond to such actions.

Nataliia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, said this on national television, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We are monitoring all these reports, all this logic of the development of events and are we ready for the fact that there may be provocations," Humeniuk said.

According to her, the Russians have long been preparing the grounds for accusing Ukraine. For example, when the Black Sea grain export deal was in effect, the enemy accused the Ukrainian defense forces of using the grain corridor in order to allegedly use drones against their ships.

"Recent reports that a [Russian] Black Sea Fleet ship was attacked by unknown drones were also aimed at heating up such preliminary grounds for future attacks," Humeniuk added.

Humeniuk earlier said that Russia was likely preparing a false flag operation in the Black Sea. She said this could be either an attack against a foreign ship, in which the Russian Federation will accuse Ukraine, or an attack from the deck of a ship itself that will allegedly sail under a foreign flag.