A Ukrainian intelligence chief has suggested that Kyiv is planning another wave of attacks against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet which will occur without warning.
Russia’s prestigious fleet has been hit hard by drone strikes over the course of the war started by Vladimir Putin, which have increased in frequency in recent months.
Despite having a limited navy itself, Ukraine’s strikes have forced Russia to move the fleet away from Sevastopol in Crimea, where it is partially based.
Kyiv has vowed to recapture the Crimea Peninsula which has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has used missiles and naval drones to cripple Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, with many vessels moved towards Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port city in Russian territory, which has hurt Moscow’s ability to operate in the western part of the sea.
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Vasyl Maliuk, Head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU), told Ukrainian television that the Sea Baby and Mamai naval drones have already hit 11 Russian ships, warning there was more to come.
“Let the Russians wait for the next explosion,” Maliuk told the program Fakty on the Ukrainian TV channel ICTV. “We never repeat our actions, and if they (Russia) change their defense against our maritime drones somewhere, we are one step ahead.”
“Everything is in due time, you will see everything,” Maliuk added, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
On Sunday, Kyiv said it had attacked two of Russia’s large landing ships, Yamal and Azov, a communications hub in Sevastopol and other infrastructure facilities.
Open-source intelligence accounts and Russian military bloggers reported that Ukraine had used Western-supplied air-launched Storm Shadow and SCALP cruise missiles.
Ukrainian officials said that the strikes had caused more damage to the Black Sea Fleet than initially reported.
Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson Captain Third Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk said the Russian fleet’s communications center and the Ivan Khurs Yury Ivanov–class reconnaissance ship were also damaged.
Pletenchuk said that Russian forces have rarely used Kalibr missiles recently because the naval base in Sevastopol, the target of a number of Ukrainian attacks, is the only Black Sea Fleet base that has the infrastructure needed to reload these missiles.
In its daily update, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian strikes against the fleet will deter Russian forces from redeploying ships to Sevastopol and the western Black Sea, adversely impacting Russia’s combat capabilities in the region.
Ukraine is thought to have sunk or heavily damaged around a third of the Black Sea Fleet, and by 2025, it has been predicted that as many as half of its vessels could be struck.
Other recent Russian losses included the Ropucha-class Caesar Kunikov in February, the Olenegorsky Gornyak Iast August and the Novocherkassk landing ship in December.
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