Russia’s last patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet has now left Crimea as the annexed peninsula has been bombarded by Ukraine since the war started.
Ukrainian forces have been targeting Russian warships with sea drones and missiles blowing up Vladimir Putin’s ships for many months which has now prompted Moscow to redeploy what vessels they have left.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk confirmed to the Kyiv Independent on Monday that the “last patrol ship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is just leaving our Crimea.
“Remember this day.”
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The patrol ship does not carry cruise missiles and is equipped with other types of weapons, Pletenchuk said.
He added on Monday that one of two ships left Sevastopol, Crimea “a long time ago.”
Pletenchuk said, “Given that they (Russia) have not been able to patrol for a while, the movement vector… We can assume that this is a transition between bases.
“(This move) indicates the Russians’ understanding that they must leave Crimea. At least (their) ships.”
Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent earlier in July, “The Russian Navy’s sphere of influence in the Black Sea has been significantly reduced and the whole world can see this today.”
There are fears in Moscow that a Ukrainian “aviation armada” of F-16 fighter jets will attempt to destroy all of Putin’s warships.
Last week the US and several other countries announced that Kyiv will receive the multi-role fighter jets within days and attack naval infrastructure in Crimea.
Ukrainian forces have destroyed Russia’s air-defence systems which have failed to shoot down US supplied missiles.
US supplied ATACMS which is a ballistic missile have blown up various Russian targets and have a range of 186 miles.
The US supplied ATACMS blew up a radar system and a S-400 air-defence battery at a military base in Sevastopol, May.
The Kremlin has criticised “NATO” for provoking Russia with the delivery of the multi-role fighter jets and the Foreign Ministry “cannot ignore” they F-16s could also carry nuclear payloads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement, “We cannot ignore the fact that these planes are dual-purpose platforms that can be used both for nuclear and non-nuclear tasks.
“No matter what modification of the aircraft will be supplied [to Ukraine] we will treat them as nuclear-capable and we will consider this step of the United States and NATO as a purposeful provocation.”
