Odessa, Ukraine--A clutch of rusty old naval boats bob about mournfully in the Black Sea off the harbour of Ukraine's southern city Odessa near an ageing missile boat.
"The only way to get those pieces of junk moving is to get some paddles and start rowing," an officer says derisively.
Close by floats the remaining flagship, the Getman Sagaidachniy frigate named after a 17th century military leader -- where sailors live cheek-by-jowl in cramped living quarters.
These are the sad remnants of Ukraine's navy.
Already in a sorry state after years of corruption and neglect, the force was eviscerated when Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March last year.
Moscow snatched the pride of the fleet which was moored in its strategic ports, and convinced thousands of sailors to jump ship.
"It was a tragedy for our navy", officer Vitaliy Martynyuk, who was studying in the Crimean city of Sevastopol at the time of the annexation, says dejectedly.
AFP
