LONDON, March 28. /TASS/. British vessels Northumberland and Richmond delivered military vehicles and equipment to Estonia where the UK-led NATO Battlegroup is located. According to the Sunday statement by the UK Ministry of Defense, the Royal Navy frigates and a RAF Poseidon P8A submarine hunter aircraft also participated in joint exercises with forces from Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Baltic Sea.

"Activities such as these in the Baltic Sea are routine business for us and our JEF partners, in one of our principal areas of geographical interest," Major General Jim Morris, the Commander of the UK Standing Joint Force HQ (SJFHQ) which leads the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), said. According to him, "there has never been a more important time to ensure that freedom of navigation is maintained in the Baltic Sea."

In February, the UK already sent additional tanks and armored vehicles to Estonia as well as doubled its contingent there to 1,800 servicemen. It is reported that the new batch of equipment was sent to Estonia within the framework of resupplying the UK-led NATO Battlegroup.

The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) was formed in 2014 and represents a different structure without being regular troops. The alliance which also includes Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia periodically holds joint drills. During the March meeting in London, the leaders of these countries vowed to bolster cooperation due to the altered security situation in Europe and hold more sea and land drills in the North Atlantic and the Baltics.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.