Russian fleet exits Black Sea amid Ukrainian pressure

The Ukrainian navy reports in a communiqué on Telegram that Russian ships have left the Black Sea. Ukrainians point out that no Russian units are currently present in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

However, the navy communiqué specifies that Russian ships remain in the Mediterranean Sea. Seven Russian ships are present, two of which are equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles capable of launching a volley of 22 missiles at once.

Let us remember that Ukrainians have been regularly hindering the operations of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation recently. At the beginning of January, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Naval Forces, Dmytro Pletenczuk, reported that Russians had completely abandoned ship repairs at bases in occupied Crimea. This decision is related to fears of units being destroyed by Ukrainian surface drones, among other threats.

Although the Russians have ship repair facilities in Novorossiysk, they must direct units elsewhere. This indicates that Ukrainians have managed to compel the Russians to withdraw entirely from the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Notably, they accomplished this without having a naval fleet of their own.

It is also noteworthy that the Russian Federation previously held several valuable machines in these regions, which the Ukrainians either destroyed or damaged. Among such equipment are Project 22160 ships, submarines of the Kilo-class 877 (Rostov-on-Don) that were damaged during an aerial attack on the shipyard in Sevastopol, and a landing craft of Project 775.

The Ukrainians most frequently employ Sea Baby marine drones for daring operations. These drones can carry up to 850 kilograms of explosives. The equipment visually resembles a motorboat but is appropriately camouflaged to make detection at sea more challenging. The drone is controlled using AR goggles—the Ukrainians use the same technology employed in FPV drones.