This is something that is not getting talked about a lot anymore, but Ukraine continues attacking Russian Black Sea fleet all over occupied Crimea.
To understand why this is so significant (besides the purely sentimental value, as Black Sea fleet was considered to be the pride of Russian navy for whatever reason) you need to go back about 5 months – when Russia decided to leave the grain initiative. Back then it seemed like it was the end of Ukrainian export by sea, as it seemed like Russia would simply block any ships from leaving/entering the ports. The only options that were actively discussed were decreasing the sanction pressure in exchange for opening up the shipping lanes or something like getting a third party as a security provider (like Turkey) which were either unrealistic or terrible (yet seems like the only available) ideas.
A summer-autumn campaign of attack on Black Sea fleet ensued, the results of which are pretty clear – most of Black Sea fleet is now removed from bases in Crimea and is rarely away from coastal defenses. Record number of ships have entered Odesa a few days ago in order to be loaded with cargo. Even constant Shahed drone attacks are not stopping that it seems like.
I understand that this campaign was not the most noticeable and highly watched during these few months, but the result is clear – Ukraine no longer needs Russia in order to keep the shipping lanes open. Which seemed like pure fantasy a year ago.
Big thanks to UK and France for supplying SCALPs and Storm Shadow missiles, those are exactly what made it possible. I cannot express how much we are grateful for this kind of support.
Askold isn’t a cruiser (very big ship type) but rather a corvette (small-to-medium ship type).
How many more ships before they destroy the complete Black Sea fleet? Russians can’t move other there to replace the destroyed ones, per international agreements, so it’s a zero sum game for Russia?
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This is something that is not getting talked about a lot anymore, but Ukraine continues attacking Russian Black Sea fleet all over occupied Crimea.
To understand why this is so significant (besides the purely sentimental value, as Black Sea fleet was considered to be the pride of Russian navy for whatever reason) you need to go back about 5 months – when Russia decided to leave the grain initiative. Back then it seemed like it was the end of Ukrainian export by sea, as it seemed like Russia would simply block any ships from leaving/entering the ports. The only options that were actively discussed were decreasing the sanction pressure in exchange for opening up the shipping lanes or something like getting a third party as a security provider (like Turkey) which were either unrealistic or terrible (yet seems like the only available) ideas.
A summer-autumn campaign of attack on Black Sea fleet ensued, the results of which are pretty clear – most of Black Sea fleet is now removed from bases in Crimea and is rarely away from coastal defenses. Record number of ships have entered Odesa a few days ago in order to be loaded with cargo. Even constant Shahed drone attacks are not stopping that it seems like.
I understand that this campaign was not the most noticeable and highly watched during these few months, but the result is clear – Ukraine no longer needs Russia in order to keep the shipping lanes open. Which seemed like pure fantasy a year ago.
Big thanks to UK and France for supplying SCALPs and Storm Shadow missiles, those are exactly what made it possible. I cannot express how much we are grateful for this kind of support.
Askold isn’t a cruiser (very big ship type) but rather a corvette (small-to-medium ship type).
How many more ships before they destroy the complete Black Sea fleet? Russians can’t move other there to replace the destroyed ones, per international agreements, so it’s a zero sum game for Russia?
Say askold 10 times in a row very fast