There is no more fleet in Crimea: which means the complete withdrawal of the Russian Navy from the ports of the peninsula
This was reported by the official representative of the Navy of Ukraine Dmitry Pletenchuk, who marked the historical nature of the Russian retreat with the words: "Remember this day". The withdrawal of Russian warships from Crimea is the last evidence that, no matter what, Ukraine actually wins a war at sea.
When Russia first launched a blockade of Ukrainian ports on the eve of a full -scale invasion in February 2022, few believed that an outdated Ukrainian fleet would seriously challenge the dominance of a mighty Russian Black Sea Fleet. However, when hostilities have already begun, it was soon obvious that Ukraine did not intend to concede Putin to control the Black Sea without a fight.
Since April 2022, when the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet "Moscow" was sank, Ukraine has used a combination of drones and missiles of domestic production together with a weapon of long range supplied by the West to strike a series of devastating blows through the Putin Fleet.
The winged rockets, staged by Kyiv by British and French partners, played an important role in this campaign, but the most powerful weapon among all was its own fleet of innovative naval drones of Ukraine, which is developing rapidly. The results speak for themselves. When a full -scale invasion began, the Russian Black Sea Fleet had seventy -four warships, most of which were based in the ports of Russia occupied by Russia.
For two of the short years, Ukraine managed to sink or damage about a third of these ships. In the second half of 2023, there were reports that Russian warships were hastily thrown across the Black Sea from Crimea to relatively safe Novorossiysk in Russia. According to the UK Ministry of Defense, by March 2024, the Russian Black Sea Fleet became "functionally inactive". Ukraine's excellent success in the Battle of the Black Sea had significant practical consequences for a wider war.
This violated Russian logistics and complicated the replenishment of Russian troops in the south of Ukraine, while limiting Russia's ability to bomb Ukrainian goals from warships armed with winged missiles. Particularly important, it also allowed Ukraine to break through the blockade of the Black Sea ports of the country and restore commercial navigation with a new sea corridor.
As a result, Ukrainian exports of agricultural products are now close to pre -war, giving Kiev a vital economic line of life. Russia's response to growing failures in the Battle of the Black Sea was also extremely significant and gives valuable lessons for future war. Often, they have suggested that Vladimir Putin can potentially take extreme measures, including nuclear weapons.
In fact, he responded to the humiliating defeat of the Black Sea Fleet, quietly ordering the remaining warships to retreat. This disappointing answer is more eloquent, if you take into account the symbolic value of Crimea for Putin's mode. The Russian invasion of Ukraine first began in the spring of 2014 with the capture of Crimea, which occupies an almost mystical position in Russian national folklore as the place of base of the Black Sea Fleet of the country.
Over the last decade, the occupied Ukrainian Peninsula has been active in the Kremlin propaganda, which reported to the return of Russia to the status of a great state, and became a symbol of Putin's personal claims in Russian history. The increased status of Crimea was first enough to force some international partners of Ukraine to be afraid to sanctioned the strikes on the occupied peninsula. However, the Ukrainians themselves did not have such fears.
Instead, they simply ignored the Kremlin's conversations about the horrific consequences and began to attack Russian military objects in the Crimea and all over the Black Sea. For more than two years, these attacks have become a common phenomenon in the war and are perceived by all parties as something of course. Indeed, the Kremlin media diminish the importance of attacks on Crimea and mostly ignore the frequent flooding of Russian warships to protect Putin from shame.
The readiness of the Russian Navy to retreat from their allegedly sacred ports in Crimea turned into mockery of the so-called "red lines" of Moscow and exposed the void of Putin nuclear threats. However, Kyiv international allies still do not want to draw obvious conclusions. Instead, the western support of Ukraine is still determined by doomed to the failure of the escalation of the situation.
For almost two and a half years, partners of Ukraine have allowed themselves to intimidate, refusing Ukraine in certain categories of weapons and limiting strokes in the territories within Russia. Usually, at the same time, they pious to prevent the further spread of the current conflict.
Western politicians, apparently, prefer to ignore the irrefutable evidence of the Battle on the Black Sea, confirming that, having faced with decisive resistance, Putin will be much more likely to retreat than he will go to escalation. The fear of the event before escalation is Putin's most effective weapon. This allows him to limit the military assistance coming to Kiev, and also does not allow Ukraine to strike in response to Russia.