Massive escape of ships from Sevastopol: it became known where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is hiding
Russia sends Black Sea Fleet ships to a base in Abkhazia. This is a part of Georgia occupied by the Kremlin in the early 1990s.
The so-called head of the occupation administration of the region, Aslan Bzhaniya, confirmed the information in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia: “We have signed an agreement, and in the near future there will be a permanent base of the Russian Navy in the Ochamchyr district,” he said.
The same conclusion about the ships’ departure from Crimea is also made by satellite images from October 1 and 3: at least 10 ships were moved from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk. Analysts from the Institute for War Studies report that the footage clearly shows two frigates, the Admiral Makarov and the Admiral Essen.
Three submarines, five amphibious ships and several missile ships were also deployed.
Satellite photos also show that only four landing craft and one submarine remain in Sevastopol Bay. Another patrol ship from the 22160 project can be seen in Feodosia, although there have never been any Russian Black Sea Fleet ships there before.
At the same time, employees from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies assure that the movement of ships from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk is a common occurrence.
ISW analysts believe that Russia has temporarily redeployed the Black Sea Fleet ships because of the recent strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces on military facilities in Crimea. The enemy will continue to use the port of Sevastopol, as it remains the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.
Tord Are Iversen, an independent OSINT analyst, explained that after a series of drone attacks, the fleet in Sevastopol became more active, but has now returned to its “former life.”
As a reminder, Ukraine is destroying the Russian Black Sea Fleet. In September alone, five enemy ships were shot down at sea and at docks.
Chronology of the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
- March 21, 2022: The large amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov is damaged by a Tochka U missile. The ship’s captain recovered to Kobzon;
- March 21, 2022: A Raptor project patrol boat is disabled by an Azov regiment’s ATGM shot;
- March 24, 2022: the large landing ship Saratov is sunk by a Tochka U missile;
- March 24, 2022: The Novocherkassk large amphibious assault ship is damaged by a Tochka U missile. At least three crew members were killed;
- April 4, 2022: The Admiral Essen frigate is disabled for 10 days by a Harpoon anti-ship missile;
- April 14, 2022: the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the Moskva missile cruiser, is sunk by 2 Neptune missiles. Out of 510 crew members, 58 survived. The cruiser received the status of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Site of Ukraine No. 2064;
- May 2-8, 2022: five Raptor patrol boats are disabled by munitions from Bayraktar TB2 drones;
- May 7, 2022: The Serna project landing craft is sunk by ammunition from Bayraktar TB2 drones;
- May 12, 2022: The Vsevolod Bobrov is damaged by a Neptune missile;
- June 17, 2022: The rescue tugboat Vasyl Bekh is sunk by two Harpoon anti-ship missiles;
- October 29, 2022: The Admiral Makarov frigate is damaged by air and surface drones;
- October 29, 2022: The Admiral Grigorovich frigate is damaged by air and surface drones;
- October 29, 2022: The Ivan Golubets minesweeper is disabled by air and surface drones;
- May 24, 2023: The Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship is damaged by three surface drones;
- September 13, 2023: the Rostov-on-Don submarine is damaged at the dock in Sevastopol;
- September 13, 2023: a large landing ship “Minsk” burned down in the dry dock of Sevastopol, it is beyond repair.
