A resistance that undermines Russia’s famous Black Sea fleet, which is not safe in its strategic port of Sebastopol. Recent events prove that “Russia has lost control of the Black Sea”. On the night of 31 January to 1 February, a Ukrainian naval drone attack sank a Tarantul III-class patrol boat in north-western Crimea, the third Russian military vessel to be destroyed by a naval drone since the conflict began.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, a special forces unit succeeded in sinking the Ivanovets missile boat of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the evening of Wednesday 31 January.
The presence of this patrol boat at sea can be explained by the fact that since the attack on Sebastopol on 21 January 2024, the Russian Armed Forces have been on alert to move away from their berths to avoid cruise missile attacks. Weather permitting, this also exposes them to attacks from surface drones.
The Ukrainian media outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reports that Russia has up to five of these boats, each worth between $60 and $70 million and capable of carrying around fifty people.
It may be a little early to say that Ukraine has won the battle in the Black Sea, but it has succeeded in significantly reducing Russia’s room for manoeuvre. Between the more vulnerable ships that have gone into hiding in Novorossiysk or Feodossiia, and the rest of the fleet that will be reluctant to leave the protection of the missile defence systems installed in Crimea, the role of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea is difficult to define.
