One of the most unexpected developments of the full-scale invasion was how many big, expensive Russian ships were taken out by Ukraine, a country that technically has no navy.
Around 20% of Russia’s Black Sea fleet has been destroyed as of December 2023, according to National Security and Defense Council head Oleksii Danilov.
Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk on Nov. 17 said that Ukrainian forces have destroyed 15 Russian warships in the Black Sea and damaged 12 others since the start of the all-out war in February 2022. On Dec. 26, Ukraine scored its latest kill, the landing craft Novocherkassk.
Besides harnessing their Soviet arsenal, the defenders used domestically developed Neptune cruise missiles and cutting-edge naval drones, plus the long-range missiles supplied by allies. As its fancy toys began to dwindle, the Russian navy doubled down on defenses, moving its ships farther from Ukrainian shores.
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By whittling down the Black Sea Fleet, Ukraine showed that it’s not as invincible as Moscow tried to claim, demoralizing the enemy and exposing their weakness. Here’s a chronological list of the most important ships taken out so far.
Does not take ships or a navy to kill ships. US for example has palletized anti ship pods that can be dropped from a cargo plane and hit multiple targets 500 or 1000 miles away with many missiles. No Navy needed.