Russia's amphibious assault ships in Crimea face completion delays due to sanctions

The terrorist country has continued to build two amphibious assault ships in occupied Crimea at a plant that was illegally seized along with the peninsula. However, due to sanctions and the lack of necessary technologies, the completion of this project remains in question.

This was reported by Suspilne.Krym.

The invaders in Crimea are planning to build two landing ships - Ivan Moskalenko and Ivan Rogov - that will be able to carry helicopters. Construction began at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch in 2019-2020, but the completion date is still unknown.

According to Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, construction is currently in the early stages, and the project's completion date has not yet been determined.

"It should be understood that the Zaliv plant, which they also illegally stole from Ukraine along with Crimea, was a fairly modern plant, and at one time the Russians were surprised by the level of equipment of this enterprise," Pletenchuk added.

Naval expert Volodymyr Zablotskyi explained that the Russian occupiers decided to build their own ships after France confiscated two Mistral-type vessels that Russia had ordered and paid for in 2014.

As a result, Russia began building its own project, the Ivan Moskalenko and Ivan Rogov ships. Zablotskyi also noted that although the Zaliv shipyard has not previously built warships, it is similar to the Ocean shipyard in Mykolaiv and has the potential for such production, albeit illegally. He added that this plant had built ships, including the Cyclone, which was later hit by Ukrainian missiles.

Recently, military analysts spoke about the enemy equipment and ships destroyed by Ukrainian intelligence in Crimea and the consequences of these strikes for the occupiers. The drones of the Prymari special intelligence unit successfully evaded attacks by Russian anti-aircraft missiles and hit enemy boats and an anti-aircraft missile system.

The Raptor and BK-16 fast landing boats, based on the Swedish CombatBoat 90 project, are used for patrolling and landing. The aggressor country's fleet has several dozen of these vessels, and their loss significantly weakens the combat capabilities of the invaders.

In addition, Ukrainian Prymari drones destroyed Russian radar stations and military equipment in Crimea, causing the enemy multimillion-dollar losses. A particularly significant loss was the Kasta station, an important element of Russian air defense worth about $60 million.

Анна Бальчінос