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NATO Boosts Black Sea Naval Presence

Jamie Dettmer

   When it comes to the Black Sea, international attention has been
   focused for weeks on the opulent $1.37 billion mansion jailed Kremlin
   critic Alexei Navalny says is owned by Russian President Vladimir
   Putin.

   Tagged "Putin's Palace" by the Russian leader's foes, the
   1,800-square-meter mansion is located on the Black Sea's northeastern
   shore near the Soviet-era resort town of Gelendzhik, once an outpost
   for 19th-century slave trading between the Caucasus and the Ottoman
   Empire.

   It is also a good spot to observe Black Sea naval maneuvers, of which
   in the past few days there have been plenty.

   The U.S. Navy, along with NATO partners, has dramatically increased a
   maritime presence in the Black Sea, part of a strategy to emphasize
   that Russian militarization of the waters between Europe and Asia since
   the 2014 annexation of Crimea will not go unchallenged.

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