Occupants withdraw missile carriers and warships from Crimea

There are no combat-capable Russian warships left in Crimea, only small patrol boats and logistics vessels. The occupiers have moved the main missile carriers to Novorossiysk in an attempt to protect them from attacks

This was reported by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy Dmytro Pletenchuk on Suspilne. News.

Near Crimea, Russia is using small boats such as Mongoose and Raptor for patrolling, anti-sabotage activities and checking the waters for mines.

According to him, there are no combat-capable warships left in Crimea itself - neither patrol vessels nor small missile ships. All the remaining ones are either malfunctioning and undergoing repairs, or are performing auxiliary rear functions and are inactive.

According to Pletenchuk, the main goal of the Russians is to protect these units from attacks, so they are being hidden. There is no point in destroying boats that do not pose a threat, so the Russians use them only for rotations in the occupied positions. Sometimes these units are also lost. In addition, the Russian missile ships were driven to the port in Novorossiysk to protect them from being hit.

The Raptor and BK-16 boats are high-speed amphibious assault vessels based on the Swedish CombatBoat 90 project. They are used for patrolling and landing on the coast. The Russian fleet has several dozen of these boats, and in the three years of full-scale war, the Armed Forces have already destroyed six of them.

In addition, Ukrainian Prymary drones have hit enemy equipment and radar stations in Crimea, causing Russia multimillion-dollar losses. In particular, the Kasta station worth about $60 million was eliminated, which significantly weakens the occupiers' ability to detect air and sea targets.

During the recent meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format, the Netherlands announced a new aid package to strengthen maritime security worth 400 million euros.

Анна Бальчінос