President Vladimir Putin has called for stronger naval defense against long-range missiles after Ukraine destroyed another missile ship in Sevastopol, the English-language Kyiv Post reports. It recalls that after a series of attacks by Ukrainian forces, Moscow was forced to redeploy its fleet to mainland Russia.
Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that “it is necessary to protect the Russian fleet from possible attacks in the areas where ships operate.” He also stated that “in order to increase the combat stability of the fleet, it is necessary to introduce a remote threat detection system to combat unmanned aerial vehicles.”
The Kyiv Post, published in Kyiv in English and Ukrainian, recalled on Thursday that Putin had called for strengthening the defense of the country's navy against long-range missiles after Ukrainian forces destroyed what is believed to be Russia's last missile ship equipped with Kalibr missiles in the Black Sea, the Cyclone, late last month.
Russian ships in the Black Sea. Illustrative photo Shutterstock
Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk announced that after the Cyklon was sunk, “the rest of the Russian ships were transferred from the Bay of Sevastopol in the annexed Crimea to the port of Novorossiysk due to Ukrainian attacks.”
Fleet 'changes tactics'
Since the beginning of the armed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 Russia lost about one third of its Black Sea Fleet – estimates the independent Russian-language website The Moscow Times. Ukrainian forces, using missiles and drones, have sunk or damaged at least 26 Russian surface ships and submarines. According to The Moscow Times, the threat that Ukrainian territory will be shelled by ships has decreased. There is also no threat of Russian landing operations.
In early June, the so-called governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozaev, appointed by Moscow, announced that “the Russian Black Sea Fleet continues to successfully protect Sevastopol and the coast of Crimea against attacks by Ukrainian forces, but has been forced to change tactics.” Razvozaev did not explain what this meant, he only mentioned that the ships were no longer in the Bay of Sevastopol because – as he said – (being there) “exposed them to additional danger.”
“Trapped” in the Novorossiysk port
In March, the head of military intelligence in Kyiv, Kyrylo Budanov, said that attacks on Russian ships and other targets in the Black Sea were preparations for a “major operation in Crimea,” the Kyiv Post recalled.
Magura V5 naval drones, developed by the intelligence community, have sunk a number of Russian vessels, including: two cutters.
Budanov, referring to the Russian decision to transfer the ships to the port of Novorossiysk, announced that the ships “were trapped there”. “We just have to make sure that all the remnants of the Russian fleet are pushed back to the territory of the Russian Federation. There have been no warships in the Black Sea for a long time,” he said, as quoted by the Kyiv Post.
Kyiv Post, The Moscow Times
Main photo source: Shutterstock