2006 anti-NATO protests in Feodosia

The military Ukraine-NATO Partnership for Peace military exercise Sea Breeze 2006 exercise (in Crimea) was scheduled to take place in Ukraine starting 17 July 2006.[2][3] Its aim was to "simulate the defence of a peninsula caught between a totalitarian state and a democratic one."[3] "Sea Breeze" manoeuvres had been held annually since 1997.[3] Another British-Ukrainian war-game called "Tight Knot" was scheduled to start on 14 June 2006 (near Mykolaiv).[3]

On 27 May 2006 the United States (U.S.) cargo ship Advantage anchored in Feodosia, bringing what Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko described as U.S. "technical aid."[5] Unarmed[3] seamen offloaded construction materials to build barracks for Ukrainian sailors at a training range near the town of Stary Krym, not far from Feodosia.[5] Two days later, Feodosia residents, mobilized by local chapters of the Party of Regions, the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc, and the Russian Community of Crimea, began to picket the port,[5] displaying anti-NATO slogans written in Russian and blocking U.S. cargo from getting to its destination.[5]

Together with Advantage 200 U.S. Marine Corps reservists arrived to Feodosia.[2][7] Their mission was to take part in the Sea Breeze 2006 military exercise from 17 July.[2][3] When the Marine reservists tried to reach the training facility that they were assigned to renovate[7] protesters surrounded their bus, rocking it and trying to smash the windows, eventually forcing the vehicle to head to a military sanatorium, where the reservists remain.[3] Protesters reportedly harassed Marine reservists if they stepped outside their military base.[6] The marines were advised against going into nearby towns for fear of provoking noisy confrontations.[8] On 4 June 2006 U.S. marines began leaving Crimea.[8] American and Ukrainian officials stated because their contract was ending.[8] Associated Press reported that no repair work was done at the base they were assigned to renovate.[7] On June 8 Ukraine and United Kingdom postponed Tight Knot.[7] On 20 July 2006 the United States cancelled Sea Breeze, "due to the situation in the Middle East".[1]

Reportedly the group of protesters rarely consisted of more than a few hundred demonstrators.[5][8] They accused NATO and the United States of seeking a foothold in Ukraine.[8] The Ukrainian defense ministry stated 2 June 2006 that the planned exercises were not connected with NATO.[4]

On 5 June 2006, Serhiy Yevtushenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, was stopped at the Moscow airport and sent back to Ukraine.[9] The following day, Russian Duma vice-speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky and member Konstantin Zatulin were banned from entering Ukraine (were declared persona non grata) based on the Ukrainian law concerning foreigners’ status, "foreigners are prohibited to enter the country if they violated Ukrainian legislation during their previous stay."[9][10] In the case of Zatulin, Ukrainian government accused him of trying to invoke ethnic violence and work against territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state.[9] For example, Zhirinovskiy stated: “Ukraine does not exist. Russian governors must sit in Kiev and Minsk. True Russian borders are the borders of September 1917.”[10] The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the ban as unfriendly.[11]

The 2006 Crimean anti-NATO protests did not impact foreign military units to participate in multinational military exercises in Ukraine.[12] Various military exercises (including ones with NATO troops) where held in Crimea since 2006.[12][13]

According to a poll by Razumkov Center in March 2011 some 51% of the Crimean residents considered NATO a threat, while across Ukraine this rate was 20.6% on average.[14]

• Ukraine–NATO relations
• Anti-NATO