Ukraine's attack in Black Sea shows Russia 'on backfoot' - lost 'quarter' of their fleet

Ukraine's latest successful attack in the Black Sea shows that Russia is 'on the backfoot' in the sea and 'no longer' a threat to the Western coast, according to a navy expert.

By Rosie Jempson, US News Reporter

Ukraine air defence blast drone out of the sky last night near Odessa

Ukraine's latest attack in the Black Sea shows that Russia is "on the backfoot" after losing a "quarter" of its warships.

drones, operated by its Group 13 special unit, struck and sank the 1,300-ton Russian patrol ship in the Black Sea, near the Kerch Strait that separates occupied Crimea from the coast of southwest Russia, the Defense Intelligence reported.

Following the attack, Alexander Lord, an expert on the Russian navy, told the BBC: "This is just the latest in a very successful Ukraine maritime counter-offensive we've seen over the last six months.


"If this is confirmed, this latest attack would mean that the Black Sea fleet has lost around a quarter of its surface fleet. That is a significant proportion of Russia's maritime capabilities in the Black Sea."

READ MORE: Russia's £50m warship Sergei Kotov sunk by Ukraine in latest Black Sea victory

Russian ship on the Black Sea

Ukraine says its maritime drones took down a Russian patrol ship this week (Image: Defense Intelligence of Ukraine)
He said that Ukraine have been operating numerous types of unmanned maritime drone, which is putting strain on Russia's maritime capabilities.
"It makes Russia vulnerable to these types of attacks", he explained.
Lord said the most recent attack "clearly shows that Russia is on the backfoot" in the sea and "no longer a threat to the Western Ukrainian coast".
He added: "[Russia's] threat in the sea is significantly less now than it was in early 2022."
"Russia has lost a significant proportion of their amphibious capabilities to such an extent that it's no longer a threat to the Western Ukrainian coast," the Russian navy expert added.

DON'T MISS:
British troops face being put at major risk by German leaks  [LATEST]
Top Vladimir Putin ally claims US-Russia relations worse than nuclear war crisis [COMMENT]
Ukrainian soldiers panicking as Russia blasts through their defences [INSIGHT]

Ukraine has carried out multiple successful attacks on Russia's warships in the Black Sea

On February 14, a major Russian warship was reportedly caught off the coast of Crimea and sunk by a mosquito fleet of five Ukrainian maritime drones.

Ukraine’s first naval triumph was the April 2022 when it sunk Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva, which was struck by a brace of Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.

Two months later, Ukraine succeeded in liberating Snake Island, a small but strategically important Black Sea island which had been occupied by Russia on the first day of the invasion.

Ukraine has successfully disabled around a quarter of the entire Russian Black Sea Fleet since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to Alexander Lord.

Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews

Related articles

Russia Ukraine

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?