Ukraine's navy chief says his country is putting up a fight against Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which has moved most of its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations.
The Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase nearly all its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations, and its main naval hub is becoming ineffectual because of attacks by Kyiv, Ukraine's navy chief said. Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said Ukrainian missile and naval drone strikes had caused heavy damage to the Sevastopol base, a logistics hub for repairs, maintenance, training and ammunition storage among other important functions for Russia.
More than 28 months since Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv has dealt a series of stinging blows to Moscow in the Black Sea although Ukrainian ground troops are on the back foot across a sprawling front. Ukraine, which has no major warships at its disposal, has used uncrewed naval boats packed with explosives to target Russian vessels, and pounded the fleet's facilities and other military targets on Crimea with Storm Shadow and ATACM missiles.
In a sign of their more defensive posture, some Russian warships that seldom entered the Sea of Azov to the east of Crimea are now stationed there regularly, Neizhpapa said. Monitoring data compiled by the Ukrainian Navy and provided to Reuters showed that as of June 27, 10 Russian warships were stationed in the Sea of Azov compared with none in 2023.
He cited Russia's control over the Kinburn Spit, which juts out along that route. Civilian vessels are accompanied by patrol boats in some areas to help with protection against mines, and air defenses provided cover both to the ports and the corridors, he said. The volume of cargo through the corridor has stabilized over the last six months, with Ukraine operating two daily convoys of vessels in comparison with one in 2023.
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