Russian fleet halts repairs in Crimea amid drone threats
The spokesperson for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmytro Pletenczuk, reported that the Russians have completely halted repairs of warships in bases in occupied Crimea. They are hesitant to send their units there, as they could become targets of, for example, Ukrainian surface drones.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet has suffered substantial losses during the ongoing war. The Ukrainians have managed to deliver such severe blows that the authorities in Moscow even decided to move the main base from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk. However, this has not resolved all of Russia's issues.
The Russians cannot repair their ships in Crimea
As Dmytro Pletenczuk emphasized, the bases in Crimea have played a crucial role over the years, facilitating repairs and upgrades of Russian ships, among other tasks. Currently, such activities are not being conducted because the Russians are reluctant to send their ships on a "dangerous journey."
– The main Russian facilities are still in Crimea. However, we have demonstrated that, in practice, using repair bases for their Black Sea Fleet is no longer feasible. To repair their ships, they first have to bring them there, and no one will do that now. Although there are repair facilities in Novorossiysk, they can't compare with those remaining in occupied Crimea – stated Dmytro Pletenczuk.
The Ukrainian added that, at present, there is only one Russian submarine in the Black Sea responsible for protecting Russian bases, primarily the one in Sevastopol. The majority of patrol and defence activities are conducted by aviation.
Significant losses of the Black Sea Fleet
Using Sea Baby drones, Ukrainians have carried out raids on the Crimean Bridge and eliminated several Russian surface units, including Project 22160 ships. During an air attack on a shipyard in Sevastopol, they disabled a Russian Kilo-class project 877 submarine (Rostov-on-Don) and a project 775 landing ship (Ropucha), taking them out of further operations. Ukrainians then employed Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which allowed them to attack targets as far as 500 kilometres away.
However, the most significant loss for the Russians associated with the Black Sea Fleet is considered to be the striking and sinking of the cruiser Moskva, referred to as the pride and flagship of the Russian navy. Ukrainians hit this unit using Rk-360 Neptune missiles equipped with a 150-kilogram warhead.
