Ukraine has attacked Russian ships at the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, according to reports from Ukraine. In the attack, two Russian warships were damaged along with communication centres that facilitate its Black Sea Fleet. It was the biggest overnight attack on Sevastopol port starting on the night of the 23- 24th March. In 2014, Sevastopol was captured and remained under Russian occupation along with Ukrainian ships when Crimea was first invaded by Moscow. Crimea was Ukraine’s main access to the Black Sea connecting it to the global maritime routes. Kyiv’s naval capabilities had taken a huge beating then, as most of its naval assets were stationed at Sevastopol.
Ukraine has claimed that the two Russian vessels were the landing ships Yamal and Azov, which are part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine launched the attack with its new Storm Shadow missiles, capable of flying low, under radar coverage. These missiles were supplied by UK to the Ukrainian military last year enhancing its missile attack capabilities.
In the last two years, Ukraine has targeted crucial Russian naval assets such as the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which was attacked on 14 April 2022. This year, in February, the Ukrainian military managed to sink the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov. Again, in March, a Russian patrol ship Sergei Kotov faced the same fate. Both these attacks were carried out by Magura V5 maritime drones, a Ukrainian multi-purpose UAV.
While Ukraine has faced setbacks on the battlefield, its strategic targeting of Russian naval capabilities has been a serious problem for Moscow. These attacks demonstrated the strategic edge of Ukraine over the much more powerful Russian military might. These were huge setbacks to the Russian military, the Ukrainian military intelligence even claimed that one-third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had been disabled.
As a response to the latest attack on Sevastopol, Russia responded with a barrage of 57 missile launches against Ukraine early morning on the 24th. Although the attack was aimed at Western Ukraine it had violated Poland’s airspace according to its military.
Team Bharatshakti
