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Slavutych Command Ship

The Slavutich was the last remaining navy ship under the Ukrainian flag in the bay of Sevastopol. By 22 March 2014 Russian ships were blocking it, as the Russian military quickly took over Crimea. Northwest of Crimea's capital Simferopol, several more Ukrainian ships refused to surrender, even though Russian troops controlled Donuzlav naval base. Many servicemen were tired of Russian pressure and felt betrayed by the silence from their commanders and Kyiv's interim government.

Laid down as a Soviet intelligence ship (sister to Russian Kamchatka) but completed as a communications / command ship, Slavutych was the youngest city of Ukraine (founded at 1988). It is geographically situated in Chernihiv region, but administratively belongs to Kyiv region. The town was designed after the Chernobyl disaster (at 1986) for workers of Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and their families. City government has made a lot of efforts to built a city on the principles of preservation of forest plantations, further planting of greenery, a developed network of bicycle lanes, dominance of pedastrian over car traffic. The city has a status of special economic zone, and it is expanding according to model of sustainable development. Thus, Slavutych is a compact, comfortable city, oriented on a sustainable development.

Since the autumn of 1991 until the middle of 1992, Moscow and Kyiv had been disputing about the Black Sea Fleet’s belonging to this or that State. On 06 April 1994 the control ship “Slavutych” of the Ukrainian Navy, which was on the planned military trainings, was followed by four warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

On 28 June 2005 the CCC ship Slavutych of the Ukrainian Navy called at Kotor, Serbia and Montenegro on a three-day friendly visit. Ukrainian Navy Commander VADM Ihor Kniaz, who arrived in Kotor on board the Slavutych, held a protocol meeting at the town-hall with vice mayor Zhelko Abramovic, Deputy Chief of General Staff of Serbia and Montenegro for naval forces RADM Slobodan Raisev. The meeting was attended by Ukrainian Embassy First Secretary Anatoliy Starostenko and Defense Attache Col Volodymyr Voina. On June 28 celebrations to mark Ukraine's Constitution Day were held on board the Slavutych, which were attended by Kotor Town-Hall officials, naval officers of Serbia and Montenegro.

The Ukrainian Navy intended to play an important role in the maneuvers of the BLACKSEAFOR Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group in April 2010, the Ukraine Min stry of Defense announced in a statement. On March 15, the city of Varna in Bulgaria hosted a planning meeting of the Task Group with Lieutenant Commander Oleksandr Sukhachov representing Ukraine's command. Participants summed up last year's activation of the international maneuvers and endorsed the operational directive for the April activation of 2010, agreed the list of forces to be engaged and the composition of the multination headquarters. "It is planned that the Ukrainian navy’s Slavutych CCC [command and control] ship would participate in the next activation of the Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group," reads the statement. The activations are planned in two stages of maneuvers of this multinational formation each year, in April and August. The activations last for one month. The BLA?KSEAFOR agreement was signed between Bulgaria, Georgia, Russian, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine in Istanbul on April 2, 2001 in order to develop cooperation and further dialogue between the Black Sea coastal counties in the area of regional security, stability and strong relations between the countries.

On April 3, the control vessel ‘Slavutych’ had gone to sea and headed for Istanbul (Turkey), the press service of the Command of the Naval Forces of Ukraine has reported. The ship is to participate in the April activation of the international operational squadron BLACKSEAFOR. During the navigation from Aqyar to Istanbul, exercises and trainings will be conducted onboard the ship, particularly swimming in storm conditions and low visibility conditions, defense against weapons of mass destruction, conducting artillery battle with “enemy” surface ships, mine defense, etc. Under the activation plan, ‘Slavutych’ will be involved in a complex tactical exercises and pay friendly visits to the member countries of the Agreement.

Five Russia tugboats blocked Ukraine navy ships in Sevastopol on 03 March 2014. The Ternopil and The Slavutych were in anchor in one of Sevastopol bays, expecting an attack by the Russians. The Slavutych was anchored 10 metres from the pier to prevent anyone boarding it, and has already had to repel an attempted approach by divers. Ukraine sailors would try to repulse attacks using water cannons. The Russians had earlier seized Ukraine Navy HQs. Despite the demands to join the self-proclaimed Ukraine Navy, Ukrainian sailors refused to side with the Russians, pledging loyalty to the central government in Kyiv.

On 04 March 2014 Ukraine’s Navy Slavutych crew prevented the capture attempt by armed persons. “Armed persons in a boat came to the ship but the crew repelled their attack. There was even the attempt to board the ship, capture her, arms, and sailors,” informed Capt. 2nd Rank Vitaliy Zvyahintsev, Commander of Surface Ships Brigade, Ukraine’s Navy. Now, the ships of the Russian Federation Black Sea Fleet continue blocking the Ukrainian Navy ships in Crimea. All the military units and ships of the Ukrainian Armed forces deployed in Crimea follow the orders of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Slavutich raised the Russian flag in Sevastopol, local media said 23 March 2014. The ship raised the Russian flag after negotiations on Saturday evening, the Kryminform news agency said. "There was no storm. The Slavutich hoisted the Russian flag and the crew went ashore," the agency quoted a representative of the Crimean self-defense forces as saying. Forty percent of the crew had already left the ship. Some of those serving on a contract basis even jumped into the water and swam to the shore. Their mothers picked them up and took them home. Many of them were from Crimea.