Ukrainian missiles were recently fired at the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, and the region is no longer a safe haven for Putin’s war machine at sea.
to Newsweek Sources close to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry say Ukraine’s strategy now is to demilitarize the Black Sea Fleet, by slowly but surely destroying the infrastructure in Russian-occupied Crimea that is keeping the fleet afloat.
Last Friday, a missile hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on the peninsula.
Detecting the Russians
panic
The attack caused panic and led to numerous evacuations in the surrounding area. The video was posted and verified by BBCChildren are shown running away from the school building as sirens sound.
The region’s Russian-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozgiev, reported that windows had been smashed in ten nearby buildings. The electricity must also have been gone for a while.
Russia confirmed that a man had disappeared after the attack, and that the building had been hit by a missile. They did not reveal any other injuries.
Ukraine came out later on Friday and confirmed it was behind the attack, but the desire was to “create a bigger hole” in the headquarters, the BBC reported.
Friday’s attack also received attention from Russian media. Among other things, both palm And R.TIt was presented by government media.
BBC Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, signs the letter x/twitter Russian state television also paid attention to the attack with a 14-second segment.
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Important area
The Black Sea has been an important arena for Russia since the invasion in February 2022. But despite its superiority at sea, compared to Ukraine’s almost non-existent fleet, the Kremlin has failed to tighten its grip on the maritime region.
– The only way we can get out of this situation is to destroy the Black Sea Fleet, destroying their chances to control the Black Sea and restore freedom of navigation, says former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk, who now works as an advisor in Ukraine. His previous ministry.
– The only thing we can do is destroy the Black Sea Fleet and say that every ship in the region will follow suit. There is no other option and we have to pursue it until it is done.
At the top of the wish list
Control of the Black Sea has long been at the top of the Russians’ wish list. The annexation of the strategically important Crimean peninsula in 2014, and the subsequent blockade of the Sea of Azov at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, were an important part of this overall goal, Newsweek wrote.
The idea behind this is to limit Ukraine’s access to the maritime region, as well as to stifle the country’s maritime exports.
But as you know, not everything went according to the apparent plan of Vladimir Putin and his men.
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Significant damage
According to Newsweek magazine, Ukraine, despite being without a full naval force and with very limited capabilities in the air, has managed to damage or destroy 16 ships in the Russian fleet so far in the war, according to the Dutch Oryx website, which collects information about kidnappings in Ukraine from photos. And other open sources.
Perhaps the most famous and devastating Ukrainian attack in the Black Sea was the sinking of the flagship “Moscow” in the first months of the war.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has carried out a number of drone and missile attacks in the region. Last week, they struck a Russian landing ship and a submarine capable of carrying cruise missiles off Sevastopol.
According to Newsweek, the recent attacks are said to have also destroyed important drydocks in Sevastopol – facilities that are used, among other things, for repairs.
The attack should be “a big warning about how vulnerable these repair zones are,” Andrey Reshchenko, a former captain and now a strategist at defense and logistics company Sonata, tells Newsweek.
– They simply won’t be able to repair their ships, many of which are very old, he says.
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