The occupiers are trying to protect the Black Sea Fleet from Ukrainian attacks, - ISW
Date: 2024-03-18 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
The Russian Ministry of Defense has made it clear that it wants to protect the Black Sea Fleet from Ukrainian attacks. Changing its commander is likely part of that effort.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's stance on "protecting" the Black Sea Fleet creates the conditions for him to either take credit for success if he succeeds or blame other commanders for failure.
Analysts say the Ukrainian military strikes in the Black Sea have forced Russia to redeploy most of its naval assets from its main base in Sevastopol to smaller, less capable ones such as Novorossiysk.
The Center for Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces noted that Ukrainian strikes disabled approximately 33% of the Black Sea Fleet warships as of early February 2024. We are talking about 24 ships and one submarine.
ISW adds that Shoigu visited the Black Sea Fleet command post in occupied Sevastopol in Crimea to hear a report on Ukrainian operations and the effectiveness of the Black Sea Fleet.
According to the Russian minister, the Black Sea Fleet should conduct daily exercises to repel attacks and install additional weapons, in particular, large-caliber systems and machine guns. At the same time, analysts cannot confirm that Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk became commander instead of Admiral Viktor Sokolov.
