U.S. patrol boats sent to beef up Ukrainian Navy near Black Sea

U.S. flagged general cargo ship Ocean Grand, carrying two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, sails in the Dardanelles, on its way to the Black Sea, in Canakkale,Turkey November 20, 2021. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik

KYIV (Reuters) - A ship carrying two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats designed to beef up the Ukrainian Navy transited the Dardanelles strait on Saturday days after Ukraine said it feared Russia might be preparing an attack on it.

The ship carrying the two Island-class patrol boats departed Baltimore for the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Nov. 8. Ukrainian sailors have already undergone extensive training on the vessels in the United States. Ukraine got two similar vessels in 2019.