After recent Ukrainian attacks on the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol caused severe damage to Russian ships and destroyed an S-400 air defense system in temporarily occupied Yevpatoria, the Russians are increasingly stationing their ships outside the port to ensure the relative safety of the open water .
According to the head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, Natalya Gumenyuk, the Russian fleet has become “restless in the bays.”
“We see that they are deploying their ships in large formations at sea,” Gumenyuk said in a September 15 YouTube post.
She said that by deploying distributed ship formations, the Russians are trying to increase maneuvering space and allow Russian naval forces to expand their presence in the Black Sea.
“They are [leaving port for the open] Black Sea to get more space for freedom of movement, because they know that in the narrow conditions of the bay it will be impossible to maneuver and defeat is more likely,” explains Gumenyuk.
The Russian naval group is estimated to have 17 large ships, including 16 in the Black Sea and 1 ship in the Sea of Azov.
The Russian ship Cyclone, a newly launched surface-to-surface missile carrier, is believed to have fired missiles from the Black Sea, but the Ukrainian Defense Forces have not confirmed this information.
The Cyclone is capable of firing a salvo of eight Kalibr missiles at targets in Ukraine from its station in the open Black Sea.
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Maxim Kochetkov was sentenced to nine years in prison for desertion, but his sentence was extended following a criminal case for leaving his unit without permission in February last year.
Gumenyuk said that Russian naval forces continue to threaten civilian ships, as evidenced by radio interceptions and enemy landing attempts on merchant vessels.
“We are also seeing a very large amount of tactical aviation activity, particularly between Crimea and Snake Island, including aggressive attacks such as the use of guided missiles along maritime transport routes,” she added.
Source : www.kyivpost.com