Ukraine Trolls Russia For Losing Its Attack Submarine To A Nation That Hardly Has A Navy

Ukraine is now taking a victory lap following a devastating attack on one of the main Black Sea ports last week, trolling Russia’s loss of its attack submarine in a newly posted video.

This video, published on X, formerly Twitter, by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, pokes fun at Russia for losing its submarine in a land war.

The video reads that, among other things, Ukraine is a country that does not have too many warships and that they destroyed a Russian submarine.

Looks like someone has lost a submarine in a land war. pic.twitter.com/XnV1A3AUwy

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 20, 2023

Ukrainian navy is restricted in capability, and the flagship was scuttled soon after the invasion to prevent it from falling into Russia’s hands.

This was posted by the Defense of Ukraine on 20 September.

Indeed, photographs that surfaced in the days following the Ukrainian strike on Sevastopol showed the Kilo-class submarine dubbed Rostov-on-Don wrecked, with widespread damages to the exterior and possibly also to the interior.

A specialist informed Insider that the images of this damage, especially to the pressure hull, recommended that the attack left the ship beyond any kind of repair. A loss of critical repair facilities further supported such an assessment.

Per Oryx, which keeps a tab on Russian vessels taken out by Ukraine, the Rostov is the first-ever recorded submarine loss in the war for Moscow. And, per warfare specialist Franz-Stefan Gady, it is the first combat loss of Russia’s submarine ever since 1945.

The Rostov-on-Don was one of the Black Sea Fleet’s four advanced Kilo-class subs that could carry cruise missiles. Those are also formidable assets responsible for striking Ukraine’s targets and defending Russian naval interests in the zone.

Ukraine wrecked it through a pre-dawn attack on the Sevastopol shipyard last Wednesday, which reportedly included some cruise missiles — likely the Western-built Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG long-range cruise missiles — and drones.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said it destroyed drones and had shot down seven missiles. The claims are not verified, but several weapons could make it through, causing widespread damage to the facility, the landing ship Minsk, and the Rostov.

The latest hit on Rostov is the most recent in a string of high-profile attacks by Ukraine against Russia’s forces in Crimea.

In August 2023, Ukraine’s officials said they modified a Neptune anti-ship missile. This weapon destroyed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship, Moskva, in 2022 to strike and destroy an S-400 Triumf close to Olekivka on the peninsula’s western side. One more S-400 — which is a mobile, surface-to-air system capable of shooting down ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones and aircraft, at long ranges and high altitudes — was taken out earlier in the month in Yevpatoriya, a Crimean western city.

Many unmanned surface vehicle attacks on war vessels and an essential bridge in recent months have made the Black Sea a nightmare for Russia’s naval forces to defend and navigate. A specialist earlier told Insider that the comparatively cheap exploding drone boats — remote-controlled sleek, black watercraft that comes in the size of a lifeboat — empower Ukraine with an asymmetric edge, causing massive damages to targets like the Ropucha-class landing vessel named the Olenegorsky Gornyak.

Ukrainian attacks, including one surprise amphibious raid executed in late August 2023, on Crimea are symbolic and strategic, as Kyiv aspires to make this peninsula “untenable” for Moscow forces, per a former US Army’s information to the Insider, and reflects this highly contested peninsula as the most crucial zone to reclaim in the broader war picture.

References: Business Insider, Telegraph

Ukraine Trolls Russia For Losing Its Attack Submarine To A Nation That Hardly Has A Navy appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News