2024-03-26 04:49:29
The successful weekend attack by the Ukrainians on two more Russian ships anchored in Sevastopol, Crimea, only confirms that the Kremlin is losing the battle for the Black Sea. In an interview with the daily Aktuálně.cz, the former commander in chief of US ground forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, points out that the smart strikes of the Ukrainians on the annexed peninsula are changing the character of the naval war.
At the beginning of March, the Ukrainians destroyed the most modern Russian patrol boat Sergej Kotov. The next big blow came less than three weeks later. On Sunday night, a series of loud explosions rang out in Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The Ukrainian military hit two landing craft and also bombed the Russian Navy’s communications center. The extent of their damage is not yet known.
Ben Hodges. | Photo: Jakub Plíhal
According to American General Ben Hodges, Kiev is systematically working to make the port of Sevastopol and the entire annexed Crimea unsustainable for the Russians. And unlike the recent failures in Donbass, he is very successful in this. To do this, it uses special forces, naval and aerial drones, sabotage and precision missile attacks. “The constant erosion of radars, command and air defense systems and the fact that there is nowhere to hide in Crimea makes it very vulnerable,” Hodges explains to the editors.
According to the media, the Ukrainian Air Force used British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles, called SCALP in France, for the attack. The destruction of the amphibious ships is important, according to Hodges, because it reduces the ability of Russian forces to move around the Azov and Black Seas.
The landing ships Yamal and Azov, which were damaged by the Ukrainians, are more than 110 meters long and are used, for example, to lay naval mines or to move soldiers and heavy equipment. “The Azov can accommodate ten T-55 tanks and a forty-member crew. It can transport 650 tons of cargo over a distance of more than 7,500 kilometers and can sail in all non-freezing seas and oceans without restrictions,” described the Ukrainian Pravda server.
The bridge to nowhere
The Russian Black Sea Fleet has lost a third of its vessels since the beginning of the war after the Ukrainian strikes. “When we add to this the precise attacks of the Ukrainians, this fact, combined with the prevention of further Russian ships from entering the Black Sea by Turkey, changes the character of the naval war, even though Ukraine does not even own a traditional surface fleet,” notes the retired American general. The only frigate Hetman Sahajdachnyi was sunk by the Ukrainian army in the port of Mykolaiv by itself, so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy undamaged.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspecting the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea. | Photo: Reuters
Hodges has long been convinced that Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin ten years ago, is the decisive territory of the war. “If the Russians cannot stop these strikes, they will understand that they no longer have a refuge in Crimea and cannot wage war from there. In that case, the Kerch Bridge will basically become a bridge leading nowhere,” he says.
The well-known Estonian war blogger Artur Rehi believes that the Ukrainians are preparing the ground for a strike on the Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland, with attacks in the Black Sea in recent weeks and months. “They are probably preparing for it. Russian ships are guarding the Kerch Bridge, but they are defenseless against naval drones,” Rehi judges, referring to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian ship Sergei Kotov in March.
Inspection of Sergei Shoigu
Hodges believes that the Ukrainian army will destroy the Kerch bridge one day. He will launch the attack, he says, when he feels the time is right and will have the appropriate force and plan to deceive the Russians. “The weekend strikes just show how vulnerable the bridge is and often closed to traffic,” he adds.
The Ukrainian attacks in Sevastopol took place just a week after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet here. Paradoxically, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin set defense against strikes by the Ukrainian army as a priority goal there.
In this context, the American general recalls that such a devastating attack by the Ukrainians soon after Shoigu’s inspection will have an effect on the morale of the Russian Navy. “The Russians are definitely losing the battle for the Black Sea. Their only hope is that the West will stop supplying Ukraine with weapons such as Storm Shadow cruise missiles, or never send it Taurus and ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 kilometers,” he concludes.
Video: Footage of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian ship Sergey Kotov (March 5, 2024)
Footage of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian ship Sergej Kotov. | Video: Aktuálně.cz/Telegram/Main Directorate of Intelligence