Shoigu Visits Crippled Black Sea Fleet Command in Crimea

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited occupied Crimea Sunday, March 17, where he received reports from the beleaguered Black Sea Fleet (BSF) command.

He offered advice on how to defend against Ukrainian attacks that have effectively turned Russia’s fleet of battleships into sitting ducks.

Since the Kremlin launched its full-blown attack two years ago, Ukraine has destroyed or damaged 28 ships of the Russian BSF. The list of destroyed targets includes ships of various classes, from small tugboats and corvettes to the fleet’s flagship, the cruiser Moskva.

Although Ukraine has no powerful navy, it is fighting an extremely successful “sea war” against Russia. To counter Russian warships, Ukraine uses MAGURA V5 kamikaze sea drones of its own development.

Shoigu told seamen it was priority “both in the daytime and at night to conduct constant training to repel enemy terrorist attacks” as well as “to increase the survivability of ships and vessels, and the security of infrastructure in the zone of responsibility of the fleet.”

He also ordered the installation of additional fire weapons, including heavy machine gun rifle systems, to destroy assault drones.

On March 11, Kyiv Post sources in Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR) confirmed the that Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, had been forced to resign.

“The final straw was the destruction of the Sergey Kotov,” the source told the Kyiv Post when asked about the reasons for the Kremlin’s decision.

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HUR said that Ukraine’s own MAGURA V5 maritime drones sank the Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov in the Black Sea in a March 5 pre-dawn attack.