The Ukrainian armed forces recently executed a resolute strike on Russian establishments in Crimea. 19Fortyfive discloses that during this operation, a barrage of cruise missiles targeted Russian naval infrastructure and military vessels stationed in Sevastopol. Drawing from a British military intelligence analysis featured by 19Fortyfive, there’s a strong likelihood that this assault inflicted considerable damage.
Despite the Russian Defense Ministry’s efforts to counteract some of these menacing missiles, specific vessels bore the brunt of the attack, notably the landing ship “Minsk” and the assault submarine “Rostov,” both stationed for maintenance in the dockyards. 19Fortyfive has deduced from its sources that the “Minsk” may be irreparably damaged, while the “Rostov” has suffered serious harm. The British intel suggests a lengthy and costly recovery for the submarine, potentially spanning years and costing upward of hundreds of millions.
Ripples Through the Russian Naval Command
19Fortyfive further underscores the enduring ramifications this strike might have on the operational capacity of the Russian Navy, especially concerning the upkeep of its fleet. The aftermath of losing the “Rostov,” a formidable Kilo-class submarine, curtails Russia’s strategic position, hindering its potential to deploy cruise missiles within Ukrainian territories. Designed primarily to target and sink NATO’s naval assets with its Kalibr munitions capability, the submarine’s absence is noteworthy. Even as the Russian Navy maintains a somewhat peripheral role in the Ukrainian conflict, such occurrences underscore a worrying trend of significant naval losses, as reported by 19Fortyfive.
Image: Natalia Semenova, Navy Day in St. Petersburg. Landing ship “Minsk” – panoramio, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, (no changes made).