Georgia's navy and coast guard suffered heavy damage during Russia's August invasion of its southern neighbor. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Tbilisi, an ex-Ukrainian Matka-class semi-hydrofoil transferred to Georgia in 1999; Dioscuria, a Combattante II-class guided-missile patrol boat; either Giorgi Toreli or Batumi, both Stenka-class patrol craft; P-204 and P-205, Zhuk-class patrol boats; Kutaisi, an ex-Turkish AB-25-class patrol craft; Tskaltubo, an ex-Russian Project 360 patrol boat; and Ayety, a former German Klasse 331B minehunter may all have been destroyed by Russian forces. Though most of Georgia's vessels were apparently attacked pierside in the port of Poti, some craft reportedly made an attempt to ward off the invasion forces, but were outclassed by Russia's powerful Black Sea Fleet. Reports also indicate that the Russian Slava-class cruiser Moskva may have been damaged during the engagement. Many smaller Georgian vessels survived the invasion, however, including coast guard patrol craft P-24, seen here passing in front of the USS McFaul (DDG-74) as the American warship sailed into the port of Batumi to deliver humanitarian aid.
As Russian combat operations drew to a close in Georgia, warships from Standing NATO Maritime Group One took part in a previously planned Black Sea exercise certain to have raised eyebrows in Moscow. Spain's Aegis-equipped frigate Almirante Juan de Borbon along with the German frigate Lubeck (pictured here), the Polish frigate Gen. K. Pulaski, and the American frigate, USS Taylor (FFG-50), entered the region on 21 August to conduct training and exercises and to visit Constanta, Romania, and Varna, Bulgaria. A fifth warship, the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec, also part of the NATO group, was detached to escort UN World Food Programme shipping off the coast of Somalia.
Keenly aware of the increasing importance of the Black Sea, one of NATO's newest members, Bulgaria, has been working to bulk up its maritime power in the region. The former founding member of the Warsaw Pact joined NATO in 2004 and added the 2,400-ton (full load) ex-Belgian frigate Wandelaar to its fleet in 2005, renaming the ship Druzki. Since then, Bulgaria has negotiated with Belgium to acquire ex-Wielingen and ex-Westdiep, the two remaining units of the class. The ex-Westdiep recently completed refitting and has been renamed Gordi. She is pictured here departing Zeebrugge, Belgium, en route to Bulgaria this past August. All three units of the Wielingen class entered Belgian service in the late 1970s and are capable of carrying Exocet antiship missiles, Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, and a single 100-mm gun. In addition to the three frigates, retired Belgian Tripartite-class minehunter Myosotis is also being refitted for transfer to Bulgaria.