Ukraine is increasingly attacking Russia’s weakest point – the Russian Black Sea Fleet is in serious trouble

The Ukrainian military has suggested that three Russian ships – two large amphibious ships and a reconnaissance vessel previously targeted by Ukraine – may have been hit by Ukrainian missile strikes in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.

Failed to secure base

Russia has tried to fortify its Black Sea bases against Ukrainian drones and missiles. Last week, British intelligence discovered that she was using a decoy to mislead operators in Kyiv.

Moscow has announced it will beef up security around its fleet, using high-caliber machine guns to shoot down incoming naval drones before they destroy Russian ships.

But the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s adaptation has been slow and detrimental to the fleet, notes Marina Miron, a PhD candidate in the Department of Military Studies at King’s College London.

The Black Sea Fleet, she said, made only a limited contribution to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and remains “the main vulnerability of the Russian military,” she told Newsweek.

War in Ukraine

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Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)

Western weapons are used

March 24 Kyiv said that in a recent offensive, it targeted two large Russian amphibious ships, the Yamal and Azov, a communications center in Sevastopol and other unnamed infrastructure facilities.

Open intelligence reports and Russian military blogs have reported that Ukraine used Western-supplied Storm Shadow and SCALP air-launched cruise missiles to strike a port in Crimea.

A total of 18 missiles fell on Sevastopol, of which the Russian anti-aircraft defense managed to intercept 11, reports the independent Russian portal “Astra”.

March 25 In an updated statement, Kyiv’s Military Intelligence Agency (HUR) said it attacked one of Russia’s ship repair factories in Sevastopol, where the Jamal ship was docked. The ship is in “critical condition” with a gaping hole in its upper dock, HUR said in a statement.

“We can confirm that both landing craft have been damaged. One of them was immediately transported for repair,” Ukrainian Navy spokesman Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk said, Ukrainian media reported.

Ukraine: 4 Russian ships were damaged during the weekend attack (photo by SCANPIX)

A third ship could also have been hit

During the weekend attacks, a third ship could also have been damaged, said D. Pletenčiuk. Kyiv is investigating whether the Russian reconnaissance ship “Ivan Churs” may have been hit on Saturday.

Two missiles hit the Ivan Churs, Astra reported, citing anonymous sources. Russian authorities in Crimea said a “massive” missile strike was launched against Sevastopol on Saturday night.

The Ivan Churs was carrying equipment used to coordinate and conduct operations with Russian warships and aircraft, retired Ukrainian Navy Captain Andriy Ryzhenka told Newsweek.

Russia announces that it has detained a man who spied for Ukraine (photo by SCANPIX)

A sign of Ukraine’s success

The extent of the damage to Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels has not been confirmed, but the strikes nonetheless reflect a trend of Ukrainian success targeting Moscow’s assets around Crimea.

Back in December, UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the Kremlin had lost 20 percent of its weapons in the past four months. of his Black Sea Fleet. During the first few years of 2024 Ukraine has decommissioned a number of ships over the past few months, including a missile-armed corvette, several amphibious assault ships and a patrol boat.

Russia has now lost more than a quarter of its warships and boats in the Black Sea, Ryzhenka said. The Russian navy is still capable, he said, but the growing threat of Ukrainian naval drones has kept the ships concentrated at their bases.

Ukrainian missile and drone strikes not only confine ships to their bases, but also to bases far from Ukrainian coastal waters. Moscow moved assets to Novorossiysk, a port city in internationally recognized Russian territory and further east on the Black Sea.

New military base

Reports also suggest that the Kremlin is planning a new military base at the port of Ochamchyr in Abkhazia, in the separatist Sakartvel region. This would further distance Russia’s Black Sea capabilities from the Ukrainian coast.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said last week that Russia had likely confined most of its operations to the eastern Black Sea. As Ukrainian strikes continue to damage both ships and Moscow’s dominance of the western Black Sea, it is unclear how Russia will manage to keep its Black Sea fleet from Ukraine in the next few months.

The article is in Lithuanian

Tags: Ukraine increasingly attacking Russias weakest point Russian Black Sea Fleet trouble