One of the most unexpected developments since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 202, has been the humiliating loss of the "second military power" after Ukraine destroyed several large and expensive Russian ships.
However, Ukraine is technically a country without a navy.
According to the chairman of the Ukrainian *** and Defense Committee Oleksii Danilov, as of December 2023, about 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed.
Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Plettenchuk said on November 17 that since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022, Ukrainian forces have destroyed 15 Russian** ships in the Black Sea and damaged another 12**.
In addition to using the Soviet ** arsenal, the Ukrainian defenders used domestically developed Neptune cruise missiles and sophisticated naval drones, as well as long-range missiles supplied by allies. As its fancy toys began to dwindle, the Russian Navy doubled down on its defenses, moving its ships farther off the coast of Ukraine.
This allows Ukraine to continue exporting its agricultural products even after Russia withdrew from an agreement in July to stop attacking Ukrainian exports. Experts call this one of the main achievements of Ukraine's attack on the Russian Navy.
In fact, Ukraine's seaborne exports of agricultural and industrial products have returned to pre-war levels.
The Black Sea Fleet has three main tasks during a full-scale invasion: an amphibious assault, a blockade** and an attack on Ukraine with missiles. Now it can only perform a third, and even more difficult of that.
As Russia moves further east, Ukraine's air defenses now have more space to intercept sea-launched missiles targeting its cities and infrastructure.
By cutting the Black Sea Fleet, Ukraine has shown that it is not as invincible as Moscow is trying to claim, demoralizing the enemy and exposing their weaknesses.
This is a chronological list of the most important ships to date.
Saratov landing ship.
The Saratov landing ship was one of the first truly large ships that Russia lost during the invasion. Ukrainian forces reportedly sank it with a Soviet Tochka-U ballistic missile on March 24, 2022, when the ship docked in Berdyansk, occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Russia is using the port to supply its forces in Mariupol.
Russia would have needed ships like Saratov to carry out its planned amphibious assault on Odessa in order to completely cut off Ukraine from the sea. Moscow was eventually forced to abandon this plan.
According to the Ukrainian military, the attack also damaged two other landing ships docked nearby, the Novocherkassk and the Kaiser Kunikov, which were later shot down by the Ukrainians.
The Saratov was commissioned in the 1960s to support Russian operations in Syria and Georgia, as well as the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. The ship can carry up to 400 soldiers, plus 20 main battle tanks or 45 armored vehicles.
USS Moskva missile cruiser.
The missile cruiser Moskva was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and a proud symbol of Russia's naval power in the region until it was sunk on April 14, 2022.
Ukraine said it hit the cruiser with two Neptune missiles, resulting in a 7The $500 million war machine was completely lost, and its 500 crew members** numbered an unknown number. Russia is trying to hide their fate, downplaying the importance of the ship.
It's not that easy. The Moskva was the first Russian flagship to be sunk since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It played a key role in Russia's naval assault on Ukraine at the start of the invasion in 2022. It helped provide air cover for other Russian ships in the Black Sea and captured Snake Island.
The now historic sinking of the Moskva is the first step in eliminating the Russian blockade of the Black Sea, paving the way for Ukraine's future success.
The historic loss of the flagship deal is a humiliating blow to the power of the Russian Navy.
Olenegorsky Gorniak.
With a length of 113 meters and a displacement of 3,600 tons, the Rogucha-class landing ship Olenegorskiy Gornyak became the second largest Russian ship after the Moskva.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, it was redeployed to the Black Sea in 2022 and is often tasked with military and civilian transport between Russia and occupied Crimea after the attack on the Kerch Bridge.
After attacks on the Crimea became more frequent, Russia transferred the Olenegorskiy Gornyak to Novorossiysk in the Kra**dar region. This did not save this ** from Ukrainian maritime drones, which had to fly at least 600 km to deliver a payload of 450 kg. The attack further weakened Russia's ability to transport military equipment and conduct amphibious operations.
Minsk landing ship.
The September 13 attack disabled the landing ship Minsk and disabled the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don, the first successful Ukrainian missile strike on occupied Crimean Sevastopol.
The missiles were aimed at the Sevmorz**OD shipyard, and two ships were in dry dock for repair or maintenance. Later, it was reported that the Storm Shadow long-range missiles were used against the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and other Russian military targets in the Crimea.
More than a month after the Sept. 13 attack, satellite imagery showed the destruction of Minsk, which Ukraine says caused irreparable damage. The Rostov-on-Don, one of four missile submarines of the Russian fleet, suffered "catastrophic damage," according to the British Ministry of Defense, which wrote that any effort to bring it back into service could take years and hundreds of millions of dollars.
The attack on Sevmorz**OD also killed 62 Russians** and damaged the facility's infrastructure, potentially rendering it inoperable for months, according to Ukrainian special operations forces.
USS Ascold.
The Ascord is a missile frigate built with advanced stealth technology that was destroyed before it entered service. The Ukrainian attack on the Kerch shipyard could leave the ship unrepairable.
The Askold is capable of carrying up to eight Kalibr cruise missiles or Oniks supersonic anti-ship missiles. Its destruction means one less platform for Russia to attack Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and cargo ships.
Novocherkassk.
According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, Soviet-era Novocherkassk was designed for amphibious landings, but Russia ultimately did not want to land troops in southern Ukraine, but instead used it to deliver troops and military equipment to the occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
On December 26, Ukraine dropped a cruise missile on a ship docked in Feodosia, a Russian-occupied Crimea. According to the Ukrainian military**, a powerful second** showed that the Novocherkassk was carrying explosives, making it inoperable, and open-source evidence supports this.
This is the fourth landing ship shot down by Ukraine since the beginning of a full-scale invasion, which further weakens Moscow's military logistics.