Ukrainian Navy - 2022
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, professor of practice at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law, said the stories about Ukraine's defense in the Black Sea deserve more attention. Murrett said: "Ukraine has largely won the battle of the Black Sea ... it probably deserves more attention. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has been pushed back to the distant waters of the eastern Black Sea, and has had to expand port facilities there because all of their facilities on Crimea and other locations are at risk."
US State Department officials on 14 February 2024 assessed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the results of the war, as the second anniversary of the invasion approached on February 24. One official expressed his belief that one of the underappreciated benefits of last year's counterattack was in fact the opening of the Black Sea ports, enabling Ukraine to begin economic recovery in earnest by pushing the Russian Black Sea Fleet back into the eastern Black Sea and continuing to do so. ".
He pointed out that this matter led to very important economic growth in Ukraine. “We see trade flows and trade links growing for Ukraine,” he said. “In January alone, they exported 12 million metric tons of grain, steel products and other things that are produced in the Ukrainian economy.”
“This is far beyond what they were able to do during the Black Sea Initiative and is starting to approach pre-war levels in terms of economic exports,” he added. “This is important because it enables the Ukrainians not only to meet global demand for grain, but to grow their economy and bear more of the costs of the war with "With their own resources. This is truly an important achievement achieved by the counterattack."
He said, "The fact that the Russian Navy cannot operate in the Black Sea at will compared to the way it could operate at the beginning of this war represents a fundamental shift in the strategic situation in the Black Sea region." He explained that according to some estimates, Russia lost 20% of its warships.
On 24 February 2022 the Ukrainian fleet was completely defeated in less than 40 minutes from the start of the military special operation. Numerous Russian strikes hit the objects of the Ukrainian Navy in the Black and Azov Seas. Attempts by their boats to go to sea ended in strikes against them by Russian aircraft. In fact, all the activity of the Ukrainian Navy offshore was eventually reduced to Bayraktar flights, some of which were and still are assigned to the Ukrainian fleet. The otherwise truly dangerous naval special forces of the Ukrainian Navy were half destroyed and captured in Mariupol, and the Ukrainians seem to use the other half simply as ground special forces, if not simple ground reconnaissance.
By early 2014 the Naval Forces of Ukraine in their former form could be considered extinct. Of the large ships of military importance under the flag of the country, the only frigate "Hetman Sahaidachny" remained. The operation of the Russian Federation to “return” (ie, annex) the Crimea was primarily naval. The blockade of the peninsula was carried out by the forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, its coastal units (marines) were the first to take control of strategic objects, its vehicles ensured the transfer of "little green men" from the "mainland".
The Crimean bases located in the center of the Black Sea and allowing to control it completely had been lost; all strike units (missile corvettes and boats), surface anti-submarine forces, landing ships, and the Zaporozhye submarine, which was quite combat-ready after repairs, were lost; auxiliary vessels, coastal defense tanks and artillery, Utes missile systems capable of "filling up" any enemy ship, were all lost. Russian destroyed cartographic units, means of electronic intelligence, headquarters, the forge of personnel - the Academy of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, were also all lost.
Separately, there was the issue of completing the construction of the heavy missile cruiser "Ukraine", the same type as the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet "Moskva". On the one hand, the hull and main mechanisms of the cruiser were more than 90% complete. On the other hand, all of its rocket and artillery weapons, as well as electronic systems, must be ordered in Russia, which is impossible for a number of reasons. In addition, the main structures of the cruiser had been mothballed for more than two decades and were simply deteriorating, and in general, these were technologies from the 1980s.
Russian occupiers record as losses of the Navy the corvette "Vinnytsia", which they allegedly sank (in fact, the ship sank due to the fact that no one dealt with the decommissioned ship and the hull rotted) and the frigate "Sagaidachny" (the flagship of the Ukrainian fleet met the war near the wall of the factory in Mykolaiv, was scuttled in the first days of the war due to the impossibility of putting it into service). Ukraians sank their flagship Hetman Sahaidachny in the port themselves. However, given its technical condition, there was no sense from it.
In fact, all the activities of the Ukrainian Navy were limited to the Dnieper estuary (aka the Dnieper-Bug estuary). Somewhere out there, the Ukrainian landing ship Yuriy Olifirenko was still operating, armed with multiple launch rocket launchers, which can be used to disembark and evacuate sabotage groups and to shell our troops. Now the Dnieper Estuary and the Southern Bug River are blocked by mines - and the Ukrainian Navy is in charge there. They can’t go out to sea with large forces yet, but they keep their area. Against this background, two pieces of news about their future are of interest.
The former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, spoke about the state of the Naval Forces (Navy) of Ukraine in July 2022. As Komoyedov pointed out, in fact, the Day of the Navy in Ukraine will be celebrated without a fleet, since the ships are either flooded or not ready to be on combat duty. “The navy of Ukraine has turned into a naval fleet,” he stated. Only a few armored boats remained in the Ukrainian fleet, which, according to the admiral, can at best move along the Dnieper.
And at the end of June 2022, Ukraine began to form river forces, which in fact are a kind of analogue of the Soviet Dnieper flotilla. So far, they have in the ranks all sorts of boats that are of no combat value, and the flotilla itself is being formed in those areas that have long been abandoned by Russian troops - in the northern part of the Dnieper.
Sometimes there were attempts by sabotage groups to infiltrate Russian territory in the floodplains. The Russian Guard were operating in this zone on boats. They use BMK-MT army tugboats, originally designed for pontooners, as transport. The Rosgvardeytsy catch saboteurs, scouts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and even armed deserters there. The work was "going well", although from the outside it all looked like Vietnam - dirty water, impenetrable thickets along the banks, from which fire can be opened at any moment.
The USA sent to Ukraine a new batch of patrol boats in the amount of as many as 18 units. While, however, it is not clear what type, but it is definitely a fast boat with a minimum draft. Earlier, Ukraine ordered 16 Mark VI fast boats from the United States, which, if they were armed with small-sized guided missiles, would become a serious problem for the Navy. To destroy them, if they went to sea, it would be necessary to carry out a separate air-sea operation. The Americans in their press release say that these will be patrol boats for rivers, combat boats "40 feet long" for the open sea, and some other "defensive" sea boats smaller. Mark VI is apparently not on this list, if only because they are much larger. But the above boats are easy to transport by land transport.
The American river boat is characterized by its small size, shallow draft, low noise, very high speed and excellent maneuverability. As a rule, it is armed with several machine guns, some of which have a caliber of 12.7 mm, and the rest are 7.62-mm six-barreled "Miniguns" with an electric drive of a rotating block of barrels, which are distinguished by a huge rate of fire and density of fire. There is simply nothing to catch in the floodplains against such an enemy on a tugboat.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov claimed 14 March 2023 that Western countries are creating a "coalition" for the supply of warships to Kyiv and that Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands had joined it. "There are already at least three countries in this coalition. The maritime state of Ukraine will develop its fleet. Plus, we are building the Ukrainian fleet in Turkey. Now we can safely say that a naval coalition has been formed," Reznikov said, speaking on Tuesday in Odessa at press conference with visiting Minister of Defense of the Netherlands Kaisa Ollongren. The video broadcast was conducted on the page of the Ukrainian Media Center.
"Now there is already a trend towards creating certain coalitions in the interests of Ukraine. There was a tank initiative, which became a tank coalition, before that there was an artillery initiative, which became an artillery coalition. Thanks to Ms. Kaisa [Ollongren's] announcement today, minesweepers will be handed over to us," he said.
"Britain has already given us two such minesweepers, they already have two Ukrainian crews and the flag of the Ukrainian Naval Forces has been raised, that is, today the Ukrainian fleet has two minesweepers from Britain. They will be joined by crews on ships from the Netherlands, plus in this project will be Belgium. Accordingly, there are already at least three countries in this ship coalition," Reznikov said.
He clarified that while hostilities continue in Ukraine, warships transferred by Great Britain and the Netherlands together with Belgium cannot be delivered to Ukraine, since the Montreux Convention does not allow warships to pass through the Black Sea straits. However, after the end of hostilities, Ukraine can receive these ships and use them for demining the water area. "We will restore freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov," Reznikov said. Ollongren said earlier that the Netherlands intends to transfer to Ukraine two minesweepers, radar detection systems for drones and systems for the rapid construction of bridges and crossings. It is expected that two minesweepers, which are in service with the Dutch Navy, will be transferred to Ukraine no earlier than 2025, after the Dutch themselves receive new vessels for mine action, the Dutch Ministry of Defense said. The training of the Ukrainian military will begin in the second half of 2023, the Netherlands plans to carry out this activity together with Belgium and, possibly, other allies, the department noted.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 21 February 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Forces had destroyed 18 Russian ships and boats in the year since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Among the destroyed ships is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation cruiser Moskva, which was shot down on April 13, 2022. The Russian Federation confirmed that "Moskva" was seriously damaged, allegedly "ammunition detonated due to a fire" there. The Yug operational command reported that other ships of the Russian fleet tried to save the damaged cruiser, but a storm and an explosion of ammunition capsized the ship, it began to sink. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation at first stated that the ship remained afloat , but on the evening of April 14, it admitted that the cruiser Moskva sank "in a storm." The Russian Federation did not admit that Ukraine launched a missile attack on the cruiser.
Ukraine had a tank coalition, an aircraft coalition, a grain one, and now the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov solemnly announced the formation of a "ship coalition". The statement was made at a joint press conference of the defense ministers of Ukraine and the Netherlands in Odessa. The head of the Dutch defense department, Kaisa Ollongren, who visited the Black Sea ports, solemnly announced that her country was transferring two minesweepers to Ukraine. But not now, but after the Netherlands receives a replacement for its obsolete ships, and this will not happen until 2025. Or maybe later. However, already now Ukrainian crews will start training on decommissioned Dutch boats.
Ollongren's statement caused some surprise in the Dutch media. The GeenStijl website published an article on this subject under the heading "The Netherlands, the Black Sea thunderstorm". And he recalled that their country has only five minesweepers at its disposal. And all of them were built in the period from 1983 to 1986. The Dutch Ministry of Defense actually stated that, together with Belgium, they ordered the construction of new ships of this class, but whether they will enter service by 2025 or not is still a question. Reznikov declared himself a "sea power", demonstrating to the public a model of a ship. And then he sang among the heaps of ship scrap in Nikolaev , the distorted song of The Beatles "We want a blue and yellow submarine." The minister forgot (or perhaps he never knew) that the great Ukrainian fleet had the long-suffering Zaporozhye submarine, which had been rusting in the Crimea for a long time. On February 22, 2023 the Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, awarded servicemen of the artillery brigade of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with awards and valuable gifts for personal courage and self-sacrifice shown in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the colonel of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces Ihor Bedzai with the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously. It is noted that Bedzai showed courage and heroism in protecting the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. "To confer the title of Hero of Ukraine with the award of the Order of the Golden Star to Bedzai Ihor Volodymyrovych - colonel (posthumously) ," the presidential decree reads. It will be recalled that the deputy commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for aviation, Colonel Ihor Bedzai, died while performing a combat mission on May 9. It was Bedzai in 2014 who drove all serviceable aviation from Crimea to the continental part of Ukraine. The Naval Forces of Ukraine lost the patrol boat "Slovyansk" and the raid minesweeper "Genichesk" in battles with the Russian invaders. Both ships sank Russian planes that took off from the now-destroyed air base in Novofedorivka on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea. The Office of the President of Ukraine [OPU] awarded the cross of military merit to the commander of the sea diving vessel "Netyshyn" of the Navy of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Chief of Staff Mykola Sokolovskyi. The text indicates that Sokolovsky ensured the conducting of diving descents in search of the bodies of Ukrainian sailors - members of the crews of "Slovyansk" and "Genichesk" - as well as the recovery of artillery and means of communication from the destroyed ships.
On 04 August 2023 Russia reported that a Ukrainian drone had damaged a Russian landing ship at the naval base in Novorossiysk in southern Russia near Crimea. The British Defence Ministry said on Saturday that "the Russian Navy landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak almost certainly suffered serious damage." It said the ship is the largest Russian naval vessel to be seriously damaged or destroyed since Ukrainian missiles destroyed the Moskva cruiser, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The ministry says, "This is a significant blow to the Black Sea Fleet, which previously relocated most of its units to Novorossiysk due to the high threat to the military port of Sevastopol.
Authorities in Moscow said 05 August 2023 a Russian tanker has been attacked by drones in waters off the eastern Crimean Peninsula. The country's transport authorities announced that drones punched holes near the ship's starboard engine room. They say none of the crew were injured. Ukrainian media quote sources related to the Ukrainian Security Service as saying the attack was carried out jointly by the Security Service and the military. They say the tanker was carrying fuel for the Russian military.
Taras Chmut, director of the "Return Alive" Foundation, noted that revenge for the death of the ships has already been taken - the air base in Novofedorivka has been destroyed. On August 9, several explosions rang out in the village of Novofedorivka in the occupied Crimea near the airbase of the Russian military. Russia stated that the cause of the explosion was the "detonation of several aviation munitions", however, experts believe that this version should simply hide the ineffectiveness of air defense. Ukraine does not confirm involvement in the attack on the airfield.
A powerful blow was dealt to the Russian Black Sea Fleet on September 13. As a result of the attack on the ship repair plant in Sevastopol, the submarine “Rostov-on-Don” and the large landing ship “Minsk” were significantly damaged.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces were effectively destroying the Russian fleet, but in terms of the number of forces and means, Russia still maintained dominance in the Black Sea. Captain 1st Rank Reserve, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy (2004-2020) Andriy Ryzhenko stated this on the FREEDOM TV channel.
“The most difficult thing, probably, in this situation at sea is not so much to capture some object at sea, but how to hold it… In order to hold an object at sea, surface forces are needed. There are no surface forces. And if we take again that option of dominance, then in terms of the number of forces and means Russia retains dominance in the Black Sea. Of course, it’s very good that we carried out such an operation, and the enemy’s forces and means, which ensured its combat potential, really became smaller,” he said.
Ryzhenko separately noted the destruction of at least one landing ship by the Ukrainian Defense Forces. “Landing ships of this project 775, they can be used by the enemy in order to counter our offensive, the liberation, for example, of the Azov region. That is, in practice, this means that such ships approach the coast at a certain distance and begin to fire at it from multiple launch rocket systems that are located in their bow. This is a naval analogue of the BM-21 Grad system. And on each such ship there are 320 unguided missiles, which, in general, fly at a distance of at least 25 kilometers. And this was the practice when Russia stormed Mariupol, then these landing ships fired at Azovstal, which was defended by our marines and the Azov regiment. Therefore, it is clear that the operation itself, which took place yesterday, was planned very competently, the enemy’s weak points were exploited,” Ryzhenko said.
He stated that very serious damage was caused to the Russian ships that were in dock and were not particularly protected. Ryzhenko does not rule out the possibility that there are still losses of ship personnel that are being hushed up by the Russians. “The situation is developing really dynamically. However, I want to say that it is very important for us now to build up our surface forces. I see this concept in the mosquito fleet mode, because it is very important for us not only to regain control over the coastal sea zone – this is 40-100 nautical miles from our coast, but also to retain it. We will not be able to hold these waters without ships, without boats. Therefore, we need to think about this now,” Ryzhenko said.
Ukraine is constantly working to promote a strategy for liberating the Black Sea from Russian occupiers. The speaker of the Ukrainian Navy, Captain III rank Dmytro Pletenchuk, spoke about this on the FREEDOM TV channel 23 Septembber 2023. “We are constantly working, we are not standing still. There is a corresponding development of technology, we are gaining new opportunities, new experience and, accordingly, we are moving forward and promoting a strategy that is aimed at freeing our Black Sea from the presence of Russian occupiers there. Of course, this puzzle consists of many elements. Of course, this is not a one-day job. This is the creation of new units, this is, of course, trial and error. And, nevertheless, as of now we see that Russian ships have been thrown back almost 100 nautical miles from our southern coast, the mainland – Odesa, Mykolaiv regions,” Pletenchuk said.
He recalled that at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Russian ships could be seen on the horizon simply from high-rise buildings in Odesa, but now Russians cannot feel comfortable in the southwestern part of the Black Sea. The speaker noted that it is too early to write off the Russian Black Sea Fleet, despite the damage that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already inflicted on it. He recalled that the Black Sea Fleet has always been a showcase for the Russian Federation, and had priority in manpower and weapons, and in financing.
“Therefore, it is very early to write it off. There are quite a lot of combat units there. Yes, they have problems. Yes, from time to time they stop for dock repairs. Yes, the latest new ship that they put into service did not even pass state tests. Nevertheless, there were up to 50 ships in the group, and this is quite a large force, and, of course, it will have to be taken into account as a threat for some time,” Pletenchuk said.
Ukrainian military sailors took part in the multinational exercise "Joint Warrior -23-II" starting 23 October 2023. For Ukrainian military sailors, this week began with participation in the multinational exercises "Joint Warrior -23-II", which are held within the territorial waters of Great Britain. From the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mine countermeasures ships "Cherkasy" and "Chernihiv" are involved in practical operations at sea.
The participation in the multinational exercise "Joint Warrior-23-II" of mine countermeasures ships "Cherkasy" and "Chernihiv" and the headquarters of the mine countermeasures tactical group of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine takes place within the framework of comprehensive training of the mentioned units, under the guidance of mentors of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. Participants included the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, along with the British Army. Also, in addition to Ukraine, ships and vessels from the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and Denmark are participating in the exercises.
The main goal of the training was to achieve the appropriate level of readiness for the assigned tasks by the personnel of the crews and headquarters of the mine countermeasures tactical group, as well as interoperability with the mine countermeasures units of the partner countries. In addition, issues of planning and conducting mine countermeasures according to NATO standards are being worked out. The goal is to gain experience of acting in an international environment during joint multinational operations.
Russia pulled out of the deal to allow Ukraine’s grain ships to cross the Black Sea in July after Ukraine attacked the Kerch Bridge to Crimea for a second time. Russia threatened to prevent ships from loading at Ukrainian ports, but Ukraine has since managed to keep the Russian fleet at bay. Ukraine prided itself on having contained Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, allowing grain ships to continue using a safe corridor along its coastline to the territorial waters of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria. In late October 2023 Ukraine had reportedly suspended that corridor because of a threat from Russian warplanes. Ukraine’s reconstruction minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, denied there had been a suspension. The US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, appeared to reinforce Ukraine’s denial, saying 53 ships had passed safely through the corridor in September, delivering 2 million tonnes of grain.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated 01 November 2023 " Today is the International Black Sea Action Day, a special day dedicated to our region and our shared waters with our partners. At the Staff meeting, the first issue discussed was the operation of our export corridors, the defense of southern Ukraine – our cities, our ports – against Russian attacks. All of this matters not only to our state, not only to Ukraine’s security but much more broadly. During the full-scale war, we proved that when Ukraine, together with its partners, restores security to the Black Sea, the world gains dividends of greater security for other regions. This ranges from food security to social security because the stability of the food market influences the political stability of many countries in the complicated African and Asian regions. It is very important that due to Ukrainian courage, we practically push the Russian fleet out of the eastern part of the Black Sea – Russia cannot use our sea to extend its aggression to other parts of the world, as it did with Syria. When Russia caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, using the Black Sea as its base, and later our Crimea as a staging ground for Russian military operations. Now, the situation has changed. Fundamentally changed. And when we add even more security to the Black Sea, Russia will lose any opportunity to dominate this area and spread its influence and destructiveness to other countries. The more protection we have along our coastline and in our sea, the more protection there is in the world."
General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces regarding the strike on the Russian ferry crossing in the Kerch strait stated: “Another result of the coordinated actions of the Defense Forces: in the port "Kavkaz" Russian ferry was seriously damaged. Today, the grouping of forces and means of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with other units of the Defense Forces, caused significant damage to the enemy ferry "Slavyanin" in the port "Kavkaz". Russians used this ferry to transport railway wagons, motor vehicles and containers for military purposes. "Slavyanin" is the third and last railway ferry that the Russian Federation had in the specified region. We continue to destroy the enemy, his equipment and military infrastructure."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
