The Russian Black Sea Fleet was once seen as the centerpiece of Vladimir Putin's attempt to take over Ukraine. Everyone was afraid of him, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces turned this fleet into “something of secondary importance”.
Western analysts point out that when Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the fleet based in the occupied Crimea was at the center of events, launching Kalibrs at military and civilian targets inland, blocking access to Ukrainian ports and threatening their troops.
< h2 class="news-subtitle cke-markup"> “Bad management, old equipment, arrogance”: experts “walked” the Russian Black Sea Fleet
However, Ukraine caused significant damage to the Russian fleet, sinking several ships, including the flagship cruiser Moskva, and then destroyed naval aviation on the temporarily occupied peninsula.
Analysts stressed that the Kremlin’s greatest power is the northern fleet and before the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the path overtook reinforcements for the Black Sea Fleet from there. In general, the Black Sea Fleet was strong enough to hold off the small Ukrainian fleet and was expected to play a large role in holding back Ukrainian forces in the South against the expected Russian landing that never appeared.
While Russian submarines bombard Ukraine from time to time, the navy did not live up to the expectations placed on it at the beginning of the war and took up a defensive position either in port or offshore to avoid Ukrainian attack. Since the spring, the problems of the Black Sea Fleet have been exacerbated by poor management, outdated equipment and arrogance, which the Ukrainians were only too happy to take advantage of, the message says.
Director of the Russian Studies Program at the CNA think tank in Virginia, Michael Kofman, noted that the Black Sea Fleet showed its frivolous attitude to preparations. And a number of military disasters for Russia led to the release of the commander of the fleet, Admiral Igor Osipov.
While Russia was boasting, Ukraine was learning
The Ukrainian anti-ship missile “Neptune” sank the cruiser “Moskva”, which was a symbol of the Russian naval forces. Former National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said that earlier in April, a Neptune missile hit the Admiral Essen frigate, but Russia was able to shoot down a second missile aimed at the ship after a certain interval between launches. Ukraine took this as a lesson and fired two rockets at the same time during the attack on “Moscow”. They broke through the air defense and were able to sink the flagship.
The subsequent battle for Serpent Island showed that the Russian fleet had no response to Ukrainian attacks, and the loss of the island by Russia left its ships at sea even more vulnerable. All analysts agreed that now the Black Sea fleet of infidels is helpless.
the Russian army is weaker than expected
Experts have noticed that the Russian forces are much more vulnerable than they thought. At the same time, both on land and at sea:
- The Armed Forces of Ukraine rejected Russian elite forces and heavy armored vehicles near Kyiv,
- Subsequently, Ukrainian soldiers ousted the invaders from Bucha and Irpen,< /li>
- Careless encryption of communications has led to regular attacks on Russian command posts and headquarters, resulting in the loss of senior officers, in particular generals.
- In recent weeks, military analysts have been stunned that the Russian command insists in the storage of ammunition in large warehouses near the front line.
According to Kofman, accurate strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces against hostile targets on land and at sea protracted the war to a certain extent. Instead of a short and sharp war, Putin got something completely different and, according to the expert, now he is simply trying to limit his losses.
