Recently, Ukraine struck again on the Russian port of Crimea, resulting in the destruction of a Russian landing ship and damage to people and buildings. The attack became an important juncture in the Russia-Ukraine war, highlighting Russia's predicament in the war.
Ukraine first posted the news of the attack on social media, and then Russia also confirmed the authenticity of the news. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia's performance in the war has been unsatisfactory. It was supposed to be a quick resolution of the local conflict, but it was turned into a tug-of-war by Russia. As the war progressed, Russia's front became porous and seemingly defenseless.
The attack caused huge losses to Russia. Ukraine sent Su-24 aircraft to launch the Storm Shadow missile, which successfully hit the Russian large tank landing ship "Novocherkassk". According to the ** that circulated **, the attack triggered a violent **, destroying the ship. The landing ship has always been tasked with transporting ammunition for the Russian army for the special military operation, and this attack led to the complete loss of the ship's materiel.
Although Ukraine claims to have destroyed the Novocherkassk, Russia says that the ship is only injured, but in any case, it will not be able to transport supplies for the Russian army for a short time. This operation can be said to be the key point for Ukraine to hit the Russian army. The Black Sea Fleet, which originally had five large landing ships, lost two and seriously damaged one last year. As the only remaining large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet, the Novocherkassk is not only an important means of transportation of military supplies for Russia, but also the only large ship after the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.
The sinking of the Novocherkassk not only caused Russia to lose its last large ship, but also lost some of its important material transportation forces and key materials needed for subsequent combat operations. This dealt a great blow to the morale of Russia, and there was even information that the Black Sea Fleet had withdrawn from the Crimea.
However, there are several key points behind this Ukrainian attack that deserve our attention. The first is the method of attack, Ukraine sent Su-24 aircraft to launch ** Storm Shadow missiles, which accurately hit the Russian Novocherkassk. The Storm Shadow missile requires accurate coordinate information to successfully hit the target, and Ukraine clearly does not have such reconnaissance capabilities. If the Novocherkassk really transported drones, then the timing of the attack looks very coincidental. Ukraine is clearly unlikely to have such an intelligence capability, which has sparked speculation about whether Europe and the United States are behind it.
Europe and the United States may have provided Ukraine with powerful strategic and tactical reconnaissance means and intelligence information, enabling Ukraine to accurately strike at important targets in Russia. The attack once again illustrates Russia's inadequacy in secrecy and its lack of adaptation to the new era of warfare. The information on the materiel loaded by the landing ship was not only mastered by the adversary, but also the location of the port of call was not effectively camouflaged, creating convenient conditions for a successful Ukrainian attack.
At the beginning of this year's new year, Ukraine used rockets to attack Russian barracks, because Russian soldiers used mobile phones to contact their families to greet them, and a large number of concentrated mobile phone signals exposed the location of the barracks. Both incidents illustrate that the Russian army has serious shortcomings in secrecy, which also provides valuable intelligence for Ukraine.
The attack also showed that there are loopholes in the Russian army's air defense system and an imperfect radar network. Although the Russian army claimed to have shot down two Su-24 fighters that day, the stealth capabilities of the Storm Shadow missiles caused a lot of trouble for the Russian army, and they failed to intercept the missiles. Crimea is a key defense area of Russia, but the density of air defense facilities of the Russian army has not played its due role, and the problem of blind spots of early warning radars still exists.
It is worth noting that Russia did not eliminate Ukraine's air force and ground air defense system at the beginning of the war, allowing Ukraine to retain a certain combat effectiveness. This provides an opportunity for Ukraine to exploit the weaknesses of Russia's air defense system with frequent attacks on the remaining warplanes. And Russia's deficiencies in defense have also made Ukraine frequently successful.
Taken together, the attack not only caused significant losses to Russia, but also revealed multiple weaknesses in the war. Chaos and suddenness are the key words of this war, and the form of war with low vulnerability requires the Russian army to raise its awareness of secrecy and improve its air defense system. Ukraine, for its part, has relied on its intelligence superiority to successfully strike Russia's key targets, demonstrating its flexibility and strategic insight in a new era of warfare.