The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has stated that he is confident that Ukraine will soon have the ability to exert fire control over the occupied Crimea.
According to The Kyiv Independent, he made this remark during an online address at the second parliamentary summit of the international Crimea Platform. He also mentioned that the Russian air defense on the annexed peninsula has been continuously weakened and, although Ukraine currently does not control the airspace over Crimea, it is just “a matter of time”. Zelensky pointed out that the Russian Black Sea Fleet has suffered such heavy losses that there are plans to open a new naval base in Abkhazia, a region of Georgia occupied by Russia on the Black Sea, to keep the ships “as far away as possible from Ukrainian missiles and naval drones.”
Allies are also confident
Ukraine’s allies have also picked up on the degradation of the Black Sea Fleet. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey stated on October 3rd that Ukraine’s attacks on the Black Sea Fleet have led to a “functional defeat” of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, a victory that is “just as important” as Ukraine’s surprise counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region in the fall of 2022.
Image: president.gov.ua, Президент вручив ордени “Золота Зірка” Героям України та рідним загиблих захисників, удостоєних цього звання посмертно 31, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified).