Missiles on the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol were launched from the ground by special forces: the SSO disclosed the details of the operation
It may seem that the infiltration of a reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian SSO is unnecessary when there are satellite images, but in fact, without the special forces, this strike would hardly have been so effective
The Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported additional details of a truly unique strike on the still occupied Sevastopol, when a large landing ship “Minsk” and a submarine “Rostov-on-Don” were destroyed in dry dock.
Despite the fact that the attack was remote, using air-launched cruise missiles, it involved special forces who made their way to Sevastopol. According to the post, the initial information on the likely location of the two ships at the shipyard was obtained from several sources.
But to verify it, it was still necessary to send Ukrainian soldiers to identify targets, direct and adjust fire, and conduct reconnaissance in the enemy’s operational depths.
To do this, Ukrainian special forces approached the Crimean coast by boat and reached the land underwater.
“Having successfully infiltrated, the soldiers proceeded to the main part of the operation. Using special technical means of reconnaissance, they identified and targeted the enemy. During the direct hit, the group adjusted fire and confirmed the destruction of the targets. After that, our fighters conducted a successful exfiltration,” the Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially reported.
Close footage showing the destroyed Russian Navy’s Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk in Sevastopol after the Ukrainian strike. pic.twitter.com/vuNA0A6jc7
– Clash Report (@clashreport) September 14, 2023
Thus, it was the information from the Special Forces that became the key trigger for launching an effective attack on the enemy ships. It seems that such actions may be unnecessary, as there is obviously an agent network in Crimea and satellite images, but the point may well be in some additional and less obvious aspects.
Defense Express suggests that for a successful attack, it was also necessary to verify the location of the enemy’s air defense systems in order to create the most effective cruise missile flight path. And another factor could be that the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles at the end of the course are looking for a target with a thermal imaging homing head. This means that the missile must know exactly what the target will look like.
That is, you need a “cast” of the target. And while such signatures obviously exist for some typical targets, the submarine being hit by cruise missiles was the first time in history. And there was hardly any information at all about what a Russian submarine of the Warsaw Pilot project looks like in a dry dock on a thermal imager.
Also, the Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that they had specifically disclosed the details of the attack so that the enemies would understand that “there is no safe place anywhere.”
