Ukrainian parliament approves deployment of six naval vessels to UK and Türkiye
This piece of news was corrected at 14:25 following clarifications of the decision from the Ukrainian Navy’s press service.
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) has approved a presidential decree authorising the deployment of several Ukrainian Navy vessels to the United Kingdom and Türkiye.
Ukrinform reports that on 9 October, 282 MPs voted in favour of the draft law endorsing the presidential decree On the deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to other states. The draft law was submitted on 22 September.
Under the draft decree, the Ukrainian Navy's corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa, with a standard crew of up to 106 service members, is to be deployed to Türkiye.
Ukraine also sends minesweepers to the United Kingdom as part of the deployment, specifically the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Melitopol and Henichesk (each with a standard crew of up to 39 service members), along with the command of the 1st division of the Navy's mine countermeasure flotilla, comprising a mine warfare headquarters unit of up to 20 service members.
The deployment aims to support measures related to national security and defence, repel and deter armed aggression against Ukraine and protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is also expected to facilitate the process of acquiring military equipment from partner nations.
Later, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk explained to Ukrainska Pravda that this law does not approve new ship deployments and only brings the regulatory framework into line with the actual state of affairs.
"Our ships are stationed abroad. They can operate in the territory of other countries in three cases: during exercises, when there are joint operations, and in situations like now, when there are active hostilities in our country and martial law is in place. The ships remain abroad with their crews. We needed a legal basis to allow them to be there and to receive state funding for their maintenance," Pletenchuk said.
Pletenchuk said that during the full-scale invasion, Ukraine received several ships and deployed the personnel abroad so that the Ukrainian service members were trained to operate them. Among them is the corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa, built in Türkiye during the full-scale war.
"In other words, our personnel have been stationed there permanently, often with support from the countries that provided these vessels. This continues – we receive new equipment from time to time, and our crews travel to learn and serve aboard these ships. It takes time to master each vessel, which is why such a decision is necessary," he added.
Denys Shmyhal, Ukrainian Defence Minister, commented that the decision regulates the stay of Ukrainian Navy crews abroad to service Ukrainian military ships. In total, 321 service members are currently stationed outside Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Estonia announced that it will transfer over 150 THeMIS combat robots to Ukraine.
In September, a large Norwegian training camp for Ukrainian troops opened in Poland.