Together with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the President spoke with the military about how the training is going and discussed future plans.
“The Netherlands will fully train the crew and hand over the ship to Ukraine in June. It will be named “Genichesk” – in honor of our ship, which was lost during a combat mission in June 2022 near the Kinburn Spit,” Zelensky said.
This is already the fifth ship in the Ukrainian future mine action fleet and the second from the Netherlands, Zelensky added.
Context
The raid minesweeper “Genichesk” – a mine defense ship of the Ukrainian Navy – was the only minesweeper in the Navy. Its commander and the entire crew refused to defect to the invaders during the occupation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia in 2014. The commander did not allow the Russians on board, even though machine guns and grenade launchers were pointed towards the ship, and the minesweeper was running out of food and fuel.
The ship tried to escape, but a boat with Russian special forces caught up with it. They threw stun grenades at the ship and boarded the minesweeper. The sailors fought back with hoses and chains. Eventually, the Genichesk was moored at the pier, and the crew members went ashore.
Russians strike with cruise missiles the ship sank in the summer of 2022.
