In four months, Russia has lost a fifth of its Black Sea Fleet – UK Defense Secretary
British Defense Secretary Grant Shepps said that over the past four months, Russia has lost 20% of its Black Sea Fleet.
He wrote about this in the social network X.
This is how he reacted to the destruction of the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk, which was attacked by the Ukrainian military.
According to him, this proves that those who believe that the war in Ukraine has reached a dead end are wrong.
This latest destruction of Putin’s navy demonstrates that those who believe there’s a stalemate in the Ukraine war are wrong!
They haven’t noticed that over the past 4 months 20% of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed.
Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea is now… https://t.co/F6zRmA9Kwx
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 26, 2023
He also noted that Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea is now “called into question.” Shepps is confident that the new coalition led by the UK and Norway will help Ukraine win at sea.
Earlier, the UK and Norway announced that they would lead a new maritime coalition for Ukraine. As part of it, they should, in particular, propose a plan for the development of the Ukrainian Navy.
Attack on the Novocherkassk ship
On the night of December 26, the tactical aviation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet ship Novocherkassk near Feodosia in Crimea. As a result of the attack, the ship was destroyed.
Ihnat noted that the Ukrainian military organized this operation in a filigree manner. The ship was hit by cruise missiles (Ukraine has Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles in service).
The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged the attack on the Novocherkassk ship. They said that the ship was damaged “while repelling an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using airborne guided missiles.”
The military say that there was ammunition on board the Novocherkassk (possibly including cheheds), which is why there was such a big explosion.
