French Navy frigate enters Black Sea

The French Navy's missile frigate FS Auvergne (D654) has entered the Black Sea, according to Marine Traffic and Black Sea News.

Thirty-one ships from NATO's non-Black Sea countries visited the Black Sea this year, the largest number since 2014.

"On December 13, 2021, at about 23:30 (22:30 Kyiv time), a missile frigate of the French Navy, FS Auvergne (board number D654), entered the Black Sea," the statement reads.

According to Black Sea News, 31 ships from NATO's non-Black Sea countries have been to the Black Sea since the beginning of 2021 as of December 14. This is the largest number - the same number as in 2014 - that is, for the entire period of Russia's occupation of Crimea.

As in previous years, most of NATO's non-Black Sea ship visits to the Black Sea in 2021 - 13 out of 31 - were provided by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet.

Four ships of NATO's non-Black Sea countries stayed in the Black Sea in November 2021, all of them from the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

op