Naval warfare in the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, when the Russian Armed Forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. Media reporting of and focus on the invasion has largely been on the terrestrial and aerial aspects [1] – however, maritime engagements have been consequential during the conflict. Disputes over Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea have also played a significant role. [2] [3]
On 24 February 2022 – at the beginning of the invasion – the Russian Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport announced the suspension of maritime navigation in the Sea of Azov until further notice. The reason given was the commencement of "antiterrorist operations" by the Black Sea Fleet. [4] The following day, 25 February, the Russian Department of Navigation and Oceanography warned that navigation was prohibited in the north-west Black Sea north of 45° 21’ due to activities of the Russian Navy. The navigational warning issued noted that ships and vessels in the prohibited area will be regarded as "terrorist threats". [4]
On 28 February, Turkey closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to warships of any country, as is its right under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits of 1936. [2]
On 22 March 2022, a Raptor-class patrol boat was hit and damaged by an anti-tank guided missile. [5]
On 24 March 2022, a number of ships docked in the port of Berdiansk, Ukraine, were damaged. The Tapir-class landing ship Saratov was destroyed. The Tsezar Kunikov and Novocherkassk sailed away, with fire and smoke billowing from one. [6] [7] [8]
On 3 March 2022, while at anchor, the MV Helt struck a free-floating mine in the Black Sea, south of Odesa, Ukraine. [9] The Helt was not carrying any cargo at the time, and according to the Ukrainian military, was forced into a dangerous area of the Black Sea. [10] The six crew onboard all managed to escape and were rescued by Ukrainian authorities. [11]
Drifting mines became a significant danger during the early phases of the invasion, with the NATO Allied Maritime Command issuing warnings about the devices, and their risk to shipping. [12]
During the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, Ukraine increased its use of naval drones. On 17 July 2023, Security Service of Ukraine used a naval drone to attack the Crimean Bridge, releasing footage of the incident. [13] [14] On 4 August, the Olenegorsky Gornyak was attacked by naval drones during the night, near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, leaving the ship listing heavily to port. [15]
The Russian Defence Ministry said that three Ukrainian naval drones were destroyed on 1 and 2 September 2023, while attempting to crash into the Crimean Bridge. [16]
On 11 September 2023, Ukrainian military intelligence claimed that special forces had recovered several oil and gas drilling platforms off the Crimean coast that had been occupied and fortified by Russia since 2015. Among the facilities retaken were the Boyko Towers platforms and the 'Tavryda' and 'Syvash' mobile rigs following clashes during which a Russian Su-30 fighter jet, according to Ukrainian sources, tried to sink the assault boats with various weapons. Initially it was shot at with "service weapons" until it was reportedly struck by a Ukrainian MANPAD, damaging it and forcing it to retreat. Ukrainian forces also seized helicopter ammunition and a Neva radar system from the sites. [17]
Also in September 2023, commercial vessels resumed their usage of the Ukrainian port of Odesa without asking permission from Russia – for the first time since the invasion began. [18]
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was effective from 22 July 2022 to 17 July 2023, and guaranteed the safe passage of grain via ships from certain Ukrainian ports. [19]
Following the end of the period during which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was in effect, the Russian Defence Ministry said that it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo. [20] In the same statement, Russia declared south-eastern and north-western parts of the Black Sea to be temporarily unsafe for navigation. [21]
The Russian Navy has lost eleven ships and submarines, including the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, with a further five confirmed damaged. [22] The Ukrainian Navy has lost nine ships, with a further one damaged, and seventeen captured. [23]
December 26, 2023, Ukraine's Air Force struck the Novocherkassk, a major Russian landing craft, while docked in Feodosia, southern Crimea. The attack, reportedly by air-launched cruise missiles, caused multiple explosions and fire, hinting that munitions aboard were detonated by the attack (Ukraine said the ship had launched cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities), Russian authorities and media confirmed the attack. Ukraine said the ship was destroyed—unlikely to return to service. [24] [25] [26] Though Russian authorities did not confirm the ship's loss, they said one person had been killed (other sources indicated more), and said two attacking aircraft were downed. Independent analysts said the damage significantly hampers future Russian attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast. [24] [25] [26]
The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimean Peninsula, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.
An unmanned surface vehicle, unmanned surface vessel or uncrewed surface vessel (USV), colloquially called a drone boat, drone ship or sea drone, is a boat or ship that operates on the surface of the water without a crew. USVs operate with various levels of autonomy, from remote control to fully autonomous surface vehicles (ASV).
The Project 775, NATO reporting name Ropucha class, is a class of landing ship built in Poland for the Soviet Navy. The ships were built in the Stocznia Północna shipyards in Gdańsk, Poland. They were designed for beach landings, and can carry 450 tons of cargo. The ships have both bow and stern doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the 630 square metres (6,800 sq ft) of vehicle deck stretch the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked.
Moskva, formerly Slava, was a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy. Commissioned in 1983, she was the lead ship of the Project 1164 Atlant class, named after the city of Moscow. With a crew of 510, Moskva was the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet and the most powerful warship in the region.
Tsezar Kunikov (BDK-64), sometimes anglicised as Caesar Kunikov was a Project 775 large landing ship of the Russian Navy. The ship was built in Poland, launched in 1986 and named after Soviet Naval Infantry officer Tsezar Kunikov. As part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, it took part in the KFOR mission, the Russo-Georgian War, the Syrian Civil War, and the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The Soviet designation Project 1171 (Tapir-class) landing ship is a class of Soviet/Russian general purpose, beachable amphibious warfare ships.
Project 22160 is a series of large patrol ships being constructed for the Russian Navy. The vessels are primarily intended for duties such as patrol, monitoring and protection in open and closed seas. The first ship was laid down in February 2014 and joined the Russian Navy in December 2018. By January 2018, six ships were under construction. Between 2017 and 2022, four ships had been launched. On 5 March 2024, Ukraine spokesmen claimed they had sunk the Sergey Kotov.
Admiral Makarov is an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate of the Russian Navy, part of the Black Sea Fleet based at Sevastopol. She was laid down at the Yantar Shipyard in February 2012 and commissioned on 25 December 2017. She is the most recently built of her class, and the third of six ships that had been planned in the class as of November 2014.
The Sevastopol Naval Base is an occupied naval base located in Sevastopol, in the disputed Crimean Peninsula. The base is used by the Russian Navy, and it is the main base of the Black Sea Fleet. Internationally it's recognised as Ukrainian land under Russian occupation.
Rostov-na-Donu (B-237) is an improved Kilo–class attack submarine of the Russian Navy. On 13 September 2023 the vessel was struck during a Ukrainian missile attack on the Sevastopol Shipyard where she was under repair. Based on open-source imagery, the UK Ministry of Defence assessed that the vessel "likely suffered catastrophic damage."
Vasily Bykov is a project 22160 patrol ship of the Russian Navy, of which it was the first ship built. It was laid down on 26 February 2014 on the Zelenodolsk Shipyard at Zelenodolsk in Tatarstan, Russia, and launched on 28 August 2017. Vasily Bykov was commissioned on 20 December 2018 in the Novorossiysk Naval Base at Novorossiysk, becoming part of the Black Sea Fleet.
The Berdiansk port attack was a strike carried out by Ukrainian forces against Russian Navy ships moored in the Port of Berdiansk on 24 March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Alligator-class landing ship Saratov was sunk, and one of the two Ropucha-class landing ships took damage but was able to leave the port.
The Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, sank on 14 April 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian officials announced that their forces had hit and damaged it with two R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles, and that the ship had then caught fire. The United States Department of Defense later confirmed this, and Russia reported that the ship had sunk in stormy seas after the fire reached munitions onboard and they exploded.
Novocherkassk (BDK-46) was a Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy and part of the Black Sea Fleet. Named after Russian city of Novocherkassk, the ship was built in Poland and launched in 1987.
Beginning in July 2022, a series of explosions and fires occurred on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from where the Russian Army had launched its offensive on Southern Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Occupied since 2014, Crimea was a base for the subsequent Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast and Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Ukrainian government has not accepted responsibility for all of the attacks.
Aerial warfare in the Russian invasion of Ukraine began at dawn of 24 February 2022, with infantry divisions and armored and air support in Eastern Ukraine, and dozens of missile attacks across Ukraine. The first fighting took place in Luhansk Oblast near the village of Milove on the border with Russia at 3:40 am Kyiv time. The main infantry and tank attacks were launched in four spearhead incursions, creating a northern front launched towards Kyiv, a southern front originating in Crimea, a south-eastern front launched at the cities of Luhansk and Donbas, and an eastern front. Dozens of missile strikes across Ukraine also reached as far west as Lviv. Drones have also been a critical part of the invasion, particularly in regards to combined arms warfare. Drones have additionally been employed by Russia in striking Ukrainian critical infrastructure, and have been used by Ukraine to strike military infrastructure in Russian territory.
Olenegorsky Gornyak, formerly known as BDK-91, is a Project 775, Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy. Landing ships launch amphibious forces close to shore, and can dock and quickly unload cargo.
MAGURA V5 is a Ukrainian multi-purpose unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed for use by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) capable of performing various tasks: surveillance, reconnaissance, patrolling, search and rescue, mine countermeasures, maritime security, and combat missions.
Minsk is a Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy. The ship was built in the Gdańsk Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland for the Soviet Navy, and was commissioned in 1983. Minsk is a part of the Russian Baltic Fleet. On 13 September 2023, the ship was damaged in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol Shipyard.
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