Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the Black Sea fleet command in Crimea on Sunday, March 17, and received reports on the state of the fleet.
Knewz.com has learned that the Russian Defense Minister also offered advice to the fleet on how to defend against Ukrainian forces.
President Vladimir Putin‘s prized Black Sea fleet, which used to terrorize the key shipping lanes in the area and heavily affected the Ukrainian import-export infrastructure, currently operates in fear of Ukrainian attacks after Volodymyr Zelensky‘s forces decimated a major section of the fleet.
In total, Ukraine claims it has sunk around 25 Russian ships and one submarine belonging to the Black Sea fleet since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
According to the news outlet Kyiv Post, the fallen targets range from small boats and corvettes to massive warships. In mid-February 2024, Ukraine sank the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov using “MAGURA” V5 drones, one of the most useful weapons for Ukraine in the fight against the Black Sea fleet.
The official Telegram channel of the Russian Defense Ministry announced Minister Shoigu’s visit to the Black Sea fleet command in Crimea, during which he “set the task of conducting constant training with personnel both during the day and at night to repel enemy terrorist attacks, as well as to increase the survivability of ships and vessels, and the security of infrastructure facilities in the fleet’s area of responsibility.”
“Every day it is necessary to conduct training with personnel. Training to repel air attacks and attacks by unmanned boats. Conduct day and night so that all our crews are ready,” the Russian Defense Minister said during his visit to Crimea.
Shoigu also ordered the installation of “installation of additional fire weapons, large-caliber machine-gun rifle systems to destroy enemy drones.”
The Black Sea Fleet has faced significant destruction at the hands of Ukrainian forces, to the point where Russian ships are reportedly being forced to undertake “strange maneuvers” to avoid being detected by Ukrainian military elements keeping an eye out.
Russian vessels have also been reportedly found to abruptly change directions as if they have been tipped off about potential danger in the region.
Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesperson for the Ukraine Navy, said in a recent televised statement, “Recently, an interesting incident occurred when they sent two ship units to escort their vessels from the Bosporus. That doesn’t happen often, only about once a month. But at some point, they just turned around and headed back.”
“These vessels were forced to move along the Turkish border, in effect hiding out in Turkish territorial waters. Thus not taking the shortest route, which they would normally take, but instead fleeing to their hiding spots,” Pletenchuk added, according to Newsweek.
Russia has reportedly taken administrative steps in response to the poor state of the Black Sea fleet, as Kyiv Post sources within the Ukrainian military intelligence service confirmed that Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, has been forced to resign.
The source stated that the destruction of the Caesar Kunikov warship was the last nail in the proverbial coffin of Yevmenov’s career.
It is worth noting that the destruction of the warship was followed by rumors about Putin dismissing Black Sea Fleet Commander Viktor Sokolov took social media by storm. Notably, his downfall was also attributed to the destruction of the same warship, along with the current condition of the fleet.
Roman Saponkov, a Russian blogger, attributed the sacking of the Black Sea Fleet Commander to “a series of orders which had resulted in the loss of 20 percent of the Black Sea Fleet,” according to the Daily Express. However, the claims of Sokolov’s dismissal have not been verified.
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Author: Samyarup Chowdhury
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