Russia Struggles to Repair Its Black Sea Fleet: Kyiv

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-struggles-repair-black-sea-fleet-ukraine-1942299

Russia struggled to repair its Black Sea Fleet ships that were damaged in Ukrainian strikes, Kyiv's navy claimed on Tuesday. This comes as Ukraine's military continued to attack Moscow's warships.

Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said Kyiv's forces prevented Russia from effectively using its main naval repair base in Sevastopol, a major Black Sea port in the occupied Crimea. Ukraine's missiles and drones have targeted Sevastopol during the war.

Satellite imagery captured on August 9 showed that a life-size submarine decoy, resembling Russia's Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine, was placed at Sevastopol naval base. Just a week before, Ukraine's military claimed that a submarine of the same type was sunk during its missile strike.

The Ukrainian spokesperson also stated it was not "logistically viable" for Russia to transfer its damaged warships for repair to other bases in the Black Sea region, such as Novorossiysk on the northeastern coast. But it was also attacked by Ukraine's military intelligence agency on July 3.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

Naval News reported on July 10 that a Novorossiysk-based Russian warship had docked in Ochamchire, a Georgian city on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. Russia could use this port to protect its warships from Ukraine's attacks or as a base for deployment in the Black Sea.

Russia also repositioned two Karakurt-class corvettes, both armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea to threaten Ukrainian forces. Pletenchuk claimed this type of missile no longer posed the same threat level as it did at the beginning of the war.

Both seas are connected by the 63-mile-long Volga-Don Canal, which Russia uses to move its warships between them. Russia's Caspian Flotilla has its role in the war as it is the only way for Moscow to reinforce its naval power in the Black Sea. Turkey closed its straits accessing the sea.

The Kalibr is a sea-launched land-attack cruise missile with an estimated 932 to 1,553 miles range. It is the primary ground-strike weapon for the Russian Navy and has seen extensive use in strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure. It can be launched from surface vessels and submarines.

The Ukrainian Navy claimed in June that a third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet had been taken out of operation due to attacks. A month later, Ukraine's naval service said three Russian Kilo-class submarines, armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, were deployed simultaneously in the Azov-Black Sea region for the first time.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Navy reported no Russian warships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as of Wednesday morning. It also accused Russia of violating the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea by disabling identification systems on ships that transited the Kerch Strait.