Rostyslav Avechuk
Lviv, Ukraine, Dec 27 (EFE). – The sinking of the landing ship “Novocherkassk” in Crimea crowns Ukraine’s main success in 2023, pushing the Russian Black Sea fleet away from its coasts and opening a commercial corridor to renew exports from some of its ports.
All publicly available evidence, including video and photos from the scene, points to the complete destruction early Tuesday morning in Feodosia of the 112-meter-long ship that had threatened Odessa at the very beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, the “Novocherkassk” became the twenty-fourth naval vessel destroyed by Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea.
This figure also includes a submarine hit by a missile attack in Sevastopol in September, the Black Sea flagship “Moskva”, sunk in April 2022, and the large landing ships “Saratov”, “Olenegorski Gorniak” and “Minsk”.
According to Oleksi Danilov, secretary of the National Security Council, who spoke to the Ukrainian edition of “Voice of America”, Russia’s losses amount to 20% of its fleet.
Ukraine Puts Pressure on Russian Navy
“Ukraine’s performance in the Black Sea is extraordinary,” Oleksiy Melnyk, director of foreign security programs at the Razumkov Center in Kiev, told EFE.
Despite not having “a classic fleet,” Ukraine has managed to “push Russia out of the northwestern part of the sea,” the expert said.
“Ukraine has shown the whole world that Russia is incapable of enforcing the blockade (of Ukrainian ports) with which it blackmailed Ukraine and many other countries that need Ukrainian grain,” he stressed.
According to the analysis of Mykola Bielieskov, a military expert with the Kiev-based NGO “Come Back Alive,” maritime surface drones became the basis of Ukraine’s proactive actions in the Black Sea.
They played a key role in countering Russian attempts to intercept ships carrying Ukrainian grain in the southwestern Black Sea, out of range of Harpoon anti-ship missiles, after Russia unilaterally withdrew from the UN-backed grain agreement in July 2023, Bielieskov writes.
These drones, first used in attacks on the Russian-controlled ports of Sevastopol and Novorossiysk in the fall of 2022, also pose a threat to Russian ships, despite their autonomy and range limitations.
The “Mamai” drone used by the Ukrainian Security Service is currently the fastest vehicle in the Black Sea, capable of traveling at 110 km per hour, according to the service.
Another type of drone, the “Sea Baby,” carries at least 850 kilograms of explosives and has also been used in attacks on several Russian naval bases.
Maritime “humanitarian corridor” operational despite Russian threat
The asymmetric strategy of “defense by denial” against the superior Russian navy has allowed the invaded country to continue exporting grain from the ports it still controls in the Odessa region.
In addition, it is now able to export metals and other items not covered by the UN-sponsored Black Sea Grain Initiative.
More than 300 ships moved some 10 million tons of goods out of Ukraine through the “humanitarian corridor” in the first four months of its operation, “despite systematic Russian attacks” on ports, according to the country’s infrastructure ministry.
This is a welcome relief for both foreign buyers and Ukrainian producers and exporters who have been hurt by Russia’s occupation, shelling and blockade of key ports.
But the confrontation in the Black Sea is far from over, warns Bielieskov.
Ukraine currently has limited means to attack the concentration of Russian forces in occupied Crimea, which Russia uses to “project power” in the region.
Russia is also trying to limit the effectiveness of drones, for example by working on radio-electronic warfare means to disrupt the direction of drones, as military expert Olexandr Kovalenko previously told EFE.
“Only the complete liberation of Crimea can guarantee freedom of navigation and security in the Black Sea,” Bielieskov stressed. EFE
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