Just two weeks ago, Ukraine sank the Russian robotic corvette Ivanovets.
According to an analysis by Russian independent The Insider, yesterday’s attack was the 27th against Russia’s navy since the full-scale invasion. Attacks that have led to 25 ships being damaged, of which 13 were totally destroyed.
– Before the war, the Russian Black Sea Fleet consisted of approximately 74 naval vessels. Russia is having difficulty with its warfare at sea and is forced to withdraw much of its forces further away from Ukraine, says Bert Sundström, foreign reporter at SVT.
The reactions in Russia
The information about the ship Caesar Kunikov has still not been commented on from the Russian side. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press spokesman, chose not to answer the journalists’ questions. Nor have the major Russian news channels commented on the incident.
However, a heated discussion was taking place among the war bloggers in Russian social media. Some called for rotation within the fleet, others pointed out that Ukraine is superior at sea despite the country’s lack of large warships.
– Many fools in Russia laugh at the Ukrainian navy and say that there are more admirals in the Ukrainian navy than warships. But the presence/absence of a fleet is not the number of floating iron boxes, it is the ability to conduct successful operations at sea, writes a war blogger.
Good hope for Ukraine
Several Magura V 5 naval drones were used in the attack, according to the Ukrainian intelligence service. According to unconfirmed reports, a passing boat may have saved Caesar Kunikov’s crew, while Ukraine claims that most of them were killed.
– Russia must somehow try to remedy this. If they move their ships further away or try to equip them better – we don’t know. But it is a problem for Russia and so far something that gives Ukraine good hope of succeeding better in the future as well, says Bert Sundström.