War, Russia | Merciless Black Sea Judgment: – Minimizes the ability to exercise power

(Nettavisen) On the night of Sunday, Ukraine reported hitting two ships and a communications center. While the Russians stated that one person died as a result of the attack.

On Friday, the British Ministry of Defense published satellite images showing the damage to the building and the ships. According to their analysis, Ukraine’s reports are correct.

– Analyzes of the images show that a building is damaged and that the roof has partially collapsed. In addition, two other buildings were damaged in the explosion. Two landing craft in the Roputsha class, tanks and a surveillance ship in the Yuri Ivanov class are also damaged, the British write on X.

Restricts the Black Sea Fleet

The damaged building is said to be the communications center of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is headquartered in Sevastopol on the annexed Krym peninsula.

Because of this type of attack, important Russian ships that would normally be docked in Sevastopol have been moved further east, probably in an attempt to get them out of range of Ukrainian missiles.

– Despite Russia’s attempts to minimize losses, Ukraine continues and succeeds in limiting the Black Sea Fleet’s ability to exercise power in the area, the intelligence report states.

Many attacks

On Wednesday this week, spokesman for the Ukrainian navy, Dmytro Pletenschuk, stated that a third of Russia’s warships in the Black Sea have been destroyed.

At the same time, he acknowledged that only two of around twelve missile-carrying warships have been sunk, and says that the Ukrainian attacks will continue.

– Our ultimate goal is a complete absence of military ships from the so-called Russian Federation in the regions of the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea, says Pletentsjuk.

Russian authorities have made few comments on the Ukrainian claims, but previous losses to the navy have been discussed by Russian military bloggers and media. They have sharply criticized the navy management for handling the situation.

Earlier in March, Russian media reported that the head of the navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, had been dismissed and replaced by Admiral Aleksandr Moiseyev. The Kremlin has not officially confirmed this, but Moiseyev was last week presented as acting navy chief.

Russia is crawling forward

The Black Sea has been an area of ​​the war where Ukraine has had the most success over the past year. But on land, the Russians will crawl slowly forward.

The research group and think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes on Wednesday that Ukraine has had a hard time holding back Russian forces throughout the winter. ISW estimates that since launching its offensive last October, Russia has captured 505 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.

– The marginal increase in the speed of Russian advance, however, does not reflect the threat to Russian operational success, which could come if American security assistance is constantly delayed, writes ISW.