Russia's Black Sea fleet back in business against Ukraine

The Russian Black Sea fleet is back in business in the war in Ukraine with 12 warships and submarines now lined up firing cruise missiles at power stations and other critical infrastructure targets. Ever since the sinking in April of the flagship cruiser Moskva which was caught patrolling offshore within range of Ukraine’s Neptune anti-ship missiles, the Black Sea fleet has been under-used by Moscow’s commanders in Ukraine because of fears of further spectacular strikes against Russian warships. However, under the newly appointed Russian supreme commander, General Sergei Surovikin, there appears to have been a decision to involve the Black Sea fleet on a much grander scale than in recent months. Surovikin, a 56-year-old air force general, demonstrated his enthusiasm for targeting civilian infrastructure during Russian strikes against rebel anti-regime forces in Syria in 2019. Now he appears to have brought every aspect of Russia’s military assets in Ukraine and offshore in the Black Sea to focus on the destruction of Ukraine’s power facilities. The Black Sea fleet which withdrew to safer waters or returned to home ports after the loss of the Moskva now has two Grigorovich-class frigates and four Buyan-M-class corvettes, all armed with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles, operating off Ukraine. One of the frigates is believed to be the Admiral Grigorovich, the first of the class which is fitted with a vertical launch system for firing Kalibr cruise missiles. There are also six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines firing upgraded Kalibr cruise missiles which have a range of up to 1,500 miles. The re-emergence of the Black Sea fleet in the war in Ukraine is a sign of new efforts to try and terrorise the population as winter approaches. In the early stages of the war the fleet’s warships and submarines were used almost daily. On March 24 for example, Kalibr ship-launched cruise missiles destroyed a military fuel storage site near Kyiv. The following month a Kilo-class submarine was deployed for the first time, firing Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea at Ukrainian military targets. During its operation in Syria, the Russian navy fired nearly 100 Kalibr missiles at anti-regime targets. However, after the sinking of the Moskva whose coordinates had been confirmed to the Kyiv government by US intelligence reconnaissance aircraft, the whole of the Black Sea fleet took a back seat in the war. Ukraine followed up the attack on the flagship cruiser with a number of missile and drone strikes against smaller Russian navy ships. Several vessels were sunk. It had been assumed by western intelligence that the Crimea-based Black Sea fleet would play a vital role in providing back-up for an eventual amphibious assault on Odessa. But the expected assault never took place. The success of Ukraine’s own Neptune anti-ship weapons and Harpoon missiles donated by Denmark which sank a Russian supply ship, Spasatel Vasily Bekh, in June, were seen as humiliating blows for the Russian navy. The setbacks led to the sacking of the Black Sea fleet’s commander, Admiral Igor Osipov. He was replaced by Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov.