ISW names reason why russian Defense Ministry replaced Black Sea Fleet commander
The russian Ministry of Defense has announced the replacement of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. The move is likely aimed at improving the fleet defences against Ukrainian strikes.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said this in a report.
ISW analysts believe that:
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu seeks to attribute merit to himself if the fleet is better protected from Ukrainian strikes, or to accuse other commanders of failure.
- The strikes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine forced the Black Sea Fleet to redeploy most of its ships from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk and other places with fewer opportunities.
- According to StratCom, as of early February 2024, Ukrainian strikes had disabled about 33% of BSF warships (24 ships and 1 submarine).
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on the night of March 4-5, a patrol ship of Project 22160 called Sergei Kotov was destroyed in the Kerch Strait.
The occupiers' ship was sunk by an attack by Ukrainian Magura V5 naval unmanned vehicles. After suffering three damages, Sergei Kotov sank.
Recall that on February 14 of this year, a large landing ship Tsezar Kunikov was sunk in the Black Sea near the city of Alupka.
And on the night of February 1, the Ukrainian military sank the Ivanovets missile ship, which costs about USD 60 million.