The Ukrainian Navy’s flagship Hetman Sahaydachny passed through the Dardanelles Tuesday steaming her way toward the Black Sea, as informed by the Ukrainian Government yesterday.
The frigate met up with the Turkish boat Ruşen Bey in the strait and soon passed through the Bosporus and entered the waters of the Black Sea.
The General Consular Office of Ukraine in Istanbul held talks with the representatives of the Turkish authorities to put a large Ukrainian Flag from one of the Bosporus bridges.
The ship is sailing under the Ukrainian flag, the Government release further added, standing firm behind the ship’s loyalty to Ukraine, thus refuting media claims that the frigate refused to follow orders from Kiev, and came over to Russia’s side.
Hetman Sahaydachny, with a Ka-27 helicopter and a special team on board, is heading back home from a deployment within NATO’s Ocean Shield and EU Atalanta counter-piracy operations.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, March 5, 2014, Image: Ukrainian MoD