A Russian official in annexed Crimea earlier accused Ukraine on Sunday of carrying out a drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet HQ ahead of planned celebrations to mark Navy Day.

“An unidentified object flew into the courtyard of the fleet’s headquarters,” Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “According to preliminary information, it is a drone.”

He said Ukraine had decided to “spoil Navy Day for us”.

According to the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine from the British Ministry of Defence, it’s just one of the latest setbacks for the Russians.

“The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship RAZONI left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on 1 August, headed to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon loaded with 26,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain.

This marks the first grain shipment from a Ukrainian port since the invasion began, enabled by an agreement on a grain export transit corridor between Ukraine, Turkey, the UN, and Russia on 22 July.

The reported strike on Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on Navy Day is the latest setback for the Black Sea Fleet in the five-month-old war against Ukraine, which included the loss of its flagship, the cruiser MOSKVA, in April 2022.

Following the reports of cancelled parades, it is unlikely that the Black Sea Fleet can manage high profile public events alongside its wartime activities.”

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.

 

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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51 COMMENTS

    • Crimea is Ukraine territory that was stolen by Russia.
      Hands off Crimea. And wth you doing in Savastapol anyway in the first place !!! Sevastapol is in Crimea ,and that all belongs to Ukraine.
      Common Ukraine , kick the Russians out and take back what’s rightfully yours in the first place. 👌

  3. The really interesting thing is the drone must have been launched from inside Crimea. Ukraine doesn’t have any drones able to reach Sevastopol from further away. I’m sure that’s got the Orks thinking. 😉😉

    • Pity it wasn’t a bigger missile! Hope Ukraine can get some longer abilities to sink subs and ships currently out of its range.

      • Yes , totally agree mate. Hope also Ukraine gets long range missiles to sink the entire Russian fleet so then they won’t be able to protect they’re subs. I hope every single Russian war ship ends up where they belong. With Moskva. 👍

  4. ‘A Russian official in annexed Crimea earlier accused Ukraine’ – Statements like this annoy me. Likewise, Russian and their puppets trying Ukrainian soldiers of foreign origin as ‘mercenaries’. When will Ukraine start trying Wagner Group mercenaries as mercenaries, or separatists as traitors? When will the west name the Wagner Group and similar as terrorists groups (if they haven’t already)?

    • Probably because we’re not barbarians mate. Its not a race to be the biggest dick head. I get your frustration but the moral high ground is worth having.

  5. Worlds biggest bully complains victim refuses to sit still & be hit repeatedly.

    Putin could stop this war any time he chooses.

    We could intervene any time too to force & hasten its end.

    • Is that necessary. Russia is growing slowly weaker whilst Ukraine is growing stronger and more capable. We just need to be patient and Russia will be defeated by a country it foolishly looked down upon. Russia’s only hope is a deal but everyone knows the true state of Russia’s conventional forces.

      • Well the good news for you is that standing supporting from the sidelines is basically Western policy, but it costs Ukraine more death, destruction etc every day we continue thus. Plus it sews the seeds of more neo colonial wars by Russia, China etc.

        • “Plus it sews the seeds of more neo colonial wars by Russia, China etc.”

          I’m not sure that’s the case Frank, certainly in the short to medium term. Russia has pretty much embarrassed themselves on a military level (never mind the moral one) and as a lot of the Chinese military has historically been influenced by Russia they’re probably dwelling a couple of marching paces over things too. Both countries seem to have neglected logistics, I would guess that China looking on have taken note, they’re very good at the long game and down the line will look to fix this ‘deficiency’, that could be a problem down the line, especially for Taiwan. Short term, I can’t see either being in a mad rush to invade anywhere that isn’t using sharpened sticks as their primary defence (I exaggerate to make a point).

        • Well, Ukraine should have applied for EU and NATO membership many years ago… if they had and were accepted, then the Western Countries wouldn’t be standing on the side lines…. Though to be honest if they were only a member of the EU I’m sure we would hear plenty of excuses from the EU countries not to get involved…

          • Mate, that’s what started all this.

            Putin had a nice puppet in charge of Ukraine, so didn’t care to invade it.

            Now, I’m not saying that Euromaiden shouldn’t have happened, nor that Ukraine shouldn’t aspire to join the EU or NATO (the latter will be necessary in the end), as clearly that’s what a large number of Ukrainians want.

            But they couldn’t have joined to prevent this war. On this route there only ever has been one person who could have prevented this war: Putin.

    • Not sure NATO intervention is the answer here and with Russia having veto at the UN, sending troops in under that banner wouldn’t work either.

      NATO would have to unanimously agree to send troops into Ukraine and with the potential for the conflict to then escalate and spread I think there are a number of countries that wouldn’t go for it. Although all it would take is for a stray Russian missile to go over the Polish border in error then I guess they could go down the article 5 route?

      • Agreed. The world is providing weapons & training to even the odds in Ukraine – not the time to widen the conflict.

      • Although to be fair the US could if it so wished ask Ukraine If it wished to have US troops based in its borders, with or without a UN or NATO mandate. The fact is the West has shown it does not have an appetite to go to war with another nuclear power with all the risks that entails.

        I suspect this is why Poland is massively up arming, if Ukraine can defend itself against Russian an up armed Poland could stabilise the region even if Western European and US support became cagy ( and let’s be honest most of the major western powers have shown they Potentially are one election away from not getting involved).

        • If push came to shove almost all western nations would take action. The issue is that a lot of countries which might be reliant on Russia for fuel are trying to navigate a path which might allow them to have their cake and eat it. Those with any sense are going to be accelerating their pursuit of alternative energy supplies. When those are in place or when Russia withdraws those supplies I’m sure they will seek to speed up the defeat of Russia.

          • Having followed the arguments on this site, the one conclusion I have come to is that NO ONE seems to have learnt the lesson from the past 89 years!!! That being YOU CAN NEVER APPEASE BULLIES !!! and the longer you try and don’t prepare for your failure the worst it will be. You only need to look at this Country at the start of WW 2, We were caught with our pants down and finish up playing catch up for a long time after it kicked off, are you suggesting we do the same NOW !!!

          • Absolutely NOT. I am drawing a distinction between the actions of the UK and other European nations. I suspect that had it not been for the decisive action of the UK early this year Ukraine would have been in Russian hands by the end of April. I am however being pragmatic about the bind that EU Countries now find themselves in. They need power yet they need to stand up to bullies. Luckily the UK/US have helped Ukraine blunt Putin’s advance. Germany, for example, will I’m sure help Ukraine Push back Putin once they are in a better position with their energy supplies.

            Your point about Hitler is well made. The west learnt that you need to deter aggression by being united & stronger than any potential enemy. Putin has not made a serious threat against NATO and I’m sure both sides will try to keep things calm despite the support of Ukrainian forces.

        • Will the massive orders Poland is putting in I wonder if some of it will be for Ukraine at a later date. The F-50 fighters for one. Also the old kit it frees up may also drift to Ukraine.
          Poland and Ukraine together would be a very large formidable force.

          • I agree, I suspect Poland will end up Throwing a ton on stuff Ukraine’s way first getting rid of it’s last hundred or so T72s, then it’s 200 or so PT91s ( which are essentially modernised versions of the T72). I also think it will probably end up give Ukraine it’s 250 leopard 2s ( although it would take a while for Ukraine to be able to deploy these).

            what I’m not sure about is what Poland will do with its 350ish abrams it’s ordered from the US when it’s now getting 1000 Black Panthers. Running two fleets Modern MBTs seems a bit extravagant. ( maybe they are think of selling on the Abrams when they have full build up the black panther fleet, which I imagine will take a while as local production will not start until 2026).

            It will be very good to know Europe has at least one land power with a major MBT force facing east ( which should be Germany job as they have the money and infrastructure).

    • Yeah mate and his nuclear threats are all bullshit.
      It’s like him saying . Let me win my wicked war or I’ll cut off your gas and blow up the world!
      That is crazy talk and by the way, what is he on!
      Does he drink loads of Vodka like when he chats he’s still intoxicated. But boy is he so irresponsible or what!

    • Yes and likely how this was done if it even happned, but if this isn’t something the Russians haven’t set up/inflicted upon themselves/lied about, then it will have been by partisans.

      Small drones simply don’t have the range to do that from Ukrainian controlled territory.

  8. Lets all take a moment to reflect on the heartbreaking news that Navy Day was spoiled for the Russians…the Ukrainians must have no shame.

  10. It will be interesting to see which countries will purchase Russian military equipment after the poor performance of their military in Ukraine. I can imagine India kicking themselves after they made that large purchase last year!

    • It is Turkey who went all in on the S 400 Air defence system that will be regretting their decision the most.
      Out of the F35 and drifting slowly east.

    • That website is an absolute nightmare to view on a phone. Article summary is a big ship is coming to Portsmouth.
      There was another article saying something about China and the royal navy sending a fleet of nuclear submarines🙈
      Take the express lane to make believe world the paper lives in.

  15. You’ve gotta love the blind whining.

    They’ve “Spoil[t]Navy Day for us”. Fml you’ve almost gotta respect the brass one’s on him to make that part of the official response.

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