Russia is having problems repairing ships in its Black Sea fleet that were damaged in Ukrainian attacks, the Kiev Navy said on Tuesday. At the same time, the Ukrainian military continues to attack Moscow’s warships.
Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, said Kyiv’s forces had prevented Russia from effectively using its main naval repair base in Sevastopol, a key Black Sea port in occupied Crimea. Ukrainian missiles and drones target Sevastopol during the war.
Satellite images on August 9 showed that a life-size dummy submarine resembling the Russian Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine had been placed at the Sevastopol naval base. Just a week earlier, the Ukrainian military had claimed that a submarine of the same type had been sunk in a missile attack.
The Ukrainian spokesman also said it was “logistically not feasible” for Russia to move its damaged warships to other bases in the Black Sea region for repairs, such as Novorossiysk on the northeast coast. But it was also attacked by the Ukrainian military intelligence on July 3.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense by email and asked for a comment.
YEKATERINA SHTUKINA/AFP via Getty Images
Naval News reported on July 10 that a Russian warship based in Novorossiysk docked in Ochamchira, a Georgian city on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. Russia could use this port to protect its warships from Ukrainian attacks or as a base for operations in the Black Sea.
Russia also moved two Karakurt-class corvettes, both armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea to threaten Ukrainian forces. Pletenchuk claimed that this type of missile no longer poses the same threat as it did at the beginning of the war.
Both seas are connected by the 63-mile-long Volga-Don Canal, which Russia uses to transport its warships between them. Russia’s Caspian Flotilla plays a role in the war, as it is Moscow’s only way to strengthen its naval power in the Black Sea. Turkey has closed its straits to the sea.
The Kalibr is a sea-launched land-attack cruise missile with an estimated range of 1,500 to 2,500 kilometers. It is the Russian Navy’s primary ground-attack weapon and has been used extensively in attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. It can be launched from surface ships and submarines.
The Ukrainian Navy claimed in June that a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet had been disabled due to attacks. A month later, the Ukrainian Navy announced that for the first time, three Russian Kilo-class submarines armed with Kalibr-type cruise missiles had been deployed simultaneously in the Azov Black Sea region.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Navy reported no Russian warships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov on Wednesday morning. It also accused Russia of violating the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea by disabling identification systems on ships transiting the Kerch Strait.
