To hit Russia in the sick place: Ukraine tightens the loop around the Crimea - Politico
The last blow was attached to Friday, May 31, during a joint operation of the Navy and the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces on the ferry and oil terminal at the port of the Caucasus, located on the Russian side of the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from Russia. Prior to that, a few hours earlier, Ukrainians struck the Crimean side of the Kerch ferry crossing, damaging the two railway ferries "Avangard" and "Conro Traider", which are crucial for Russia's ability to supply the peninsula.
As it is noted, the bridge through the Kerch Strait was significantly damaged after a series of attacks in 2022 and 2023, which is why it could not accept intensive trains. This means that Russia cannot use it for military logistics, for example, for the transportation of heavy armored vehicles, said the official representative of the Ukrainian Navy, a spokesman for south defense forces Dmitry Pletenchuk.
This, as emphasized, forces Russia to rely on road and rail communications through the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which makes trains and trucks more vulnerable to attacks.
"Given that the rail line, which the Russians are built through the occupied territories of Ukraine, have not yet been completed, this civilian ferry was the main logistics route of their army," Pletenchuk said, adding that marine logistics of the invaders has long been gone after Ukraine She destroyed four and damaged five of their landing ships. According to Politico, this is the last stage of a complex operation of Ukraine, aimed at keeping Russia with Crimea.
In addition to strokes on logistics, Ukrainians used marine drones and coastal missiles to destroy or damage at least 27 Russian warships and one submarine. Kyiv also attacked Russian airfields and naval bases, forcing Moscow to transfer its fleet to the east along the Black Sea coast into the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Peninsula air defense was also weakened by constant attacks. "While Russian invaders are in the Ukrainian Crimea, something will explode periodically," Pletenchuk warned.
The forces of Ukraine's defense used domestic drones and Neptune missiles for a long distance to strike on Russian Krasnodar early in the morning on Friday. During the attack on the Crimean side of the strait used ATACMS rockets of American production. And this complies with Washington's rules, according to which Ukraine restricts the use of the US weapons in the territory of Russia in the region north of Kharkiv. In Kiev, it was stated that the attacks were affected by key objects.
"The modern and efficient Russian air defense system has again proved to be powerless against our missiles and unmanned systems and has not been able to protect important objects used for logistics and supply of the Russian army," the Ukrainian military said. The Ministry of Defense of Russia, for its part, reported the destruction of five anti -ship missiles "Neptune" and 29 drones over the Krasnodar region, saying that it was possible to prevent the "Ukrainian terrorist attack".
Kyiv rejected this categorization. "Ukraine does not strike civilian objects, but only on the facilities that Russia uses for military purposes," Pletenchuk said, adding that the Russians officially never show harm because they know that the Armed Forces are affecting only military goals. He noted that on Thursday Russia closed both the ferry line and the Kerch bridge, forcing both civilians and the military to use the road through the southern occupied territories of Ukraine to reach Russia.
"It should be hinted at the occupiers who have illegally moved to our Crimea in the last 10 years, that they are getting less and less opportunity to leave this peninsula. They can leave Ukrainian Crimea now because then it will be impossible," Pletenchuk said. We will remind, on May 31 Roszmi reported that as a result of the attack of the Ukrainian military on the temporarily occupied Crimea on the night of May 30, two Russian ferries were damaged on May 30.