According to Western officials explosions at the Russian military airport Saki in the Crimea on August 9 deprived Black Sea Fleet over half of her planes and forced her to adopt a defensive stance. This is another in a series of humiliations of this fleet during the ongoing war – after the sinking of the cruiser Moscow and forcing the Russians to withdrawal from Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Panic among the Russians
After the Ukrainian strikes in the Crimea, it was seen masses of Russian tourists fleeing the peninsulawhich has not been affected by hostilities so far. The photos that the BBC has reached show car queues on exit roads from Crimea three days after the attack on airport Saki.
The fact thate explosions in the Crimeain a place previously believed to be beyond the reach of Ukrainian forces, occurred in front of thousands of Russian tourists, some of whom have since fled the peninsula back to Russia, had a psychological effect in Moscow, Western journalists told officialssubject to anonymity.
According to these sources, it is Russian Black Sea Fleet it is now something “not much bigger than a coastal flotilla” and must remain vigilant about Ukrainian attacks, writes the BBC, assessing Russia’s chances of landing on Odessa are now very low.
Resignations among the command
The British station reminds of reports from Russian sources about the resignation of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Igor Osipov and replace it with Vice Admiral Wiktor Sokołów. The new commander was to announce the reinforcement of the fleet with 12 new ships, planes and land vehicles before the end of the year. He also claimed that the fleet “successfully performed all tasks” during the invasion of Ukraine.
The UK defense ministry said this week, however, that it was after the losses Black Sea Fleet it does not effectively control the Black Sea, and its limited effectiveness “undermines Russia’s overall invasion strategy, in part because the threat of the Odessa landing has already largely been neutralized.”