As of: March 27, 2024, 5:34 a.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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Ukraine is effectively taking action against Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
According to the British Defense Minister, this is now on the verge of collapse.
Sevastopol - On the occasion of the recent Ukrainian attacks on the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in violation of international law in 2014, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy is currently “functionally inactive”.
This is reported by the US news service
Newsweek, among others.
Accordingly, Shapps shared a post from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on the online platform X in which it declared its responsibility for the rocket attacks on Sevastopol on Sunday.
During its attack on Sevastopol, the Ukrainian army hit, among other things, the two Russian landing ships “Yamal” and “Azov”, as well as the fleet's communications center and other infrastructure facilities.
Ukrainian military intelligence said the damage to the Russian ship Yamal was critical and that “a crack in the upper deck caused the ship to move to starboard.”
Vladimir Putin's appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvoshayev, described the Ukrainian military strike as the "most massive attack in recent times."
The British
Telegraph
puts the cost of getting the ships operational again at around $215 million.
According to open intelligence reports, British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles were used in the Ukrainian attack.
However, according to Newsweek
, Russian military bloggers claim
that Neptune missiles, ADM-160 decoys and drones were used.
A Russian Navy ship in the Black Sea near Sevastopol (symbolic image) © Sergei Malgavko via www.imago-images.de
Ukraine says it has already destroyed a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
“Putin’s continued illegal occupation of Ukraine is taking a massive toll on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary added in his post on X.
“Russia has been sailing the Black Sea since 1783, but is now forced to limit (its) fleet to the port.
And even there, Putin’s ships are sinking!”
The Hudson Institute think tank told
Newsweek
earlier this month that Ukraine has now damaged or completely sunk around a third of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
And that number is expected to increase by half again by next year.
Recent Russian losses included the Ropucha-class Zesar Kunikov in February, the Olenegorski Gornyak last August, the Ropucha-class Minsk the following month, and the Novocherkassk landing ship in December.
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Russia is moving to other naval bases in the Black Sea
Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet have increased in recent months, forcing Russia to divert east toward two other Black Sea port cities, Novorossiysk and Feodosiya.
This move signaled the “functional defeat” of the Black Sea Fleet, former British Defense Secretary James Heappey told
Business Insider
.
However, as
Newsweek
reports
,
Ukrainian officials say the remaining Russian naval bases in the Black Sea are structurally inferior to the one in Sevastopol.
Therefore, Russia is forced to still carry out some tasks in Sevastopol, including reloading Kalibr missile systems on ships.
In its update on Sunday, the U.S. nonprofit research organization Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said recent Ukrainian attacks on Black Sea Fleet ships will likely continue to deter Russia from moving ships to Sevastopol and the western Black Sea .
Additionally, “the fleet’s ability to maximize its combat capabilities is likely to be hampered.”
(fh)