Ukraine is embarking on a methodical strategy to “demilitarize” the Black Sea Fleet, Ukrainian experts close to the Defense Ministry have told Newsweek, steadily eroding the support infrastructure needed to keep Moscow’s ships afloat and picking off valuable naval assets where possible.
The seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the subsequent blockade of the Azov Sea both served this larger goal, limiting Ukraine’s naval access and choking its maritime exports.
This is especially true in the Black Sea, where 16 Russian vessels have been damaged or destroyed by an enemy with no conventional navy and limited air power, according Dutch open-source defense analysis website Oryx.
Each loss poses a new long-term challenge for a Russian shipbuilding sector limited by economic strain, international sanctions, and already a shadow of its Soviet predecessor that relied heavily on Ukrainian shipyards.
On September 13, Ukrainian cruise missiles destroyed a landing ship and an attack submarine in a dry dock in Sevastopol—the heart of the Black Sea Fleet and the foundation of Russian control of the peninsula.
The most recent Sevastopol attack also appears to have destroyed—or at least badly damaged—vital dry dock facilities, used to maintain and repair Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels.
The original article contains 1,213 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ukraine is embarking on a methodical strategy to “demilitarize” the Black Sea Fleet, Ukrainian experts close to the Defense Ministry have told Newsweek, steadily eroding the support infrastructure needed to keep Moscow’s ships afloat and picking off valuable naval assets where possible.
The seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the subsequent blockade of the Azov Sea both served this larger goal, limiting Ukraine’s naval access and choking its maritime exports.
This is especially true in the Black Sea, where 16 Russian vessels have been damaged or destroyed by an enemy with no conventional navy and limited air power, according Dutch open-source defense analysis website Oryx.
Each loss poses a new long-term challenge for a Russian shipbuilding sector limited by economic strain, international sanctions, and already a shadow of its Soviet predecessor that relied heavily on Ukrainian shipyards.
On September 13, Ukrainian cruise missiles destroyed a landing ship and an attack submarine in a dry dock in Sevastopol—the heart of the Black Sea Fleet and the foundation of Russian control of the peninsula.
The most recent Sevastopol attack also appears to have destroyed—or at least badly damaged—vital dry dock facilities, used to maintain and repair Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels.
The original article contains 1,213 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!