How Ukraine is slowly changing the rules of the game in the Black Sea

Setback for Russia - How Ukraine is slowly changing the rules of the game in the Black Sea

A Ukrainian patrol boat leaves the port of the Black Sea city of Odessa, a regular target of the Russian army. A member of the Ukrainian coast guard stands on the bow with a Stinger missile launcher on his shoulder and watches the sky. The patrol boat is part of Kiev's strategy to keep the Russian military fleet away from the Ukrainian coast.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian army reported a new success in the region: a warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was fired upon and destroyed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of "damage" suffered by the landing ship "Novocherkassk" as a result of a Ukrainian attack in the port of Feodosiya on the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia.

Ukraine keeps corridors free for grain exports

Despite the supposed superiority of the Russian fleet and despite Russian threats of attack, the Ukrainians have managed to open and maintain a shipping corridor for grain exports in the southern part of the Black Sea. "This is remarkable because Ukraine has virtually no warships," two US experts recently commented on the website "DefenseNews".

For Ukraine, it is the only major military success this year in which the front line has remained virtually unchanged despite a Ukrainian counter-offensive. According to Ukrainian naval spokesman Dmytro Pletanchuk, Russia is now "on the defensive" in the Black Sea, in contrast to the "arrogant presence off the coast" at the beginning of the Russian offensive in February 2022. At that time, Moscow had de facto denied Kiev access to the Black Sea.

The Black Sea is essential for Ukraine's grain exports and is also extremely important strategically for Russia. The Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which is located in the north of the inland sea and was annexed by Moscow in 2014, is of crucial importance to Moscow both for supplying its troops in Ukraine and for its attacks on the neighboring country.

Kiev intensifies attacks on Crimean ports

Since Moscow withdrew from an international agreement on grain exports in August, it has become all the more important for Ukraine to control the Black Sea. Kiev has also stepped up its attacks on Russian military facilities in Crimea. A spectacular Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol in September forced Moscow to move its ships further east.

"Our anti-ship missile systems have fundamentally changed the rules of the game," says Pletentschuk. These are US-made "Harpoon" missiles and the Ukrainian-produced "Neptune" missiles, both with a range of around 300 kilometers.

According to Pletentschuk, Ukraine has also set up a new, top-secret brigade specializing in the use of sea and underwater drones for mine clearance, reconnaissance and attacks on Russian targets. Since the beginning of the invasion, the Ukrainians have destroyed twelve Russian ships and damaged 22 others, the naval spokesman emphasizes.

According to the Ukrainian secret service, it has developed "unique" naval drones that can carry an 800-kilogram explosive charge up to 800 kilometers even in moderate storms. These drones, dubbed "Sea Baby", were primarily used in the attack on the bridge between Crimea and Russia in July, as well as in successful attacks on ten Russian ships since October 2022.

The Ukrainian coast guard and naval forces control around 200 kilometers of coastline and the ports of Pivdenny, Odessa and Chornomorsk, as well as Ismail and Reni on the Danube further south. And despite Russian threats against civilian shipping in the region and "systematic attacks on port infrastructure", Ukraine has been able to export ten million tons of grain through the shipping corridor since August, according to Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

On the Ukrainian coast guard patrol boat, the crew spots a cargo ship through binoculars that has entered Ukrainian territorial waters after passing the Bulgarian and Romanian coasts. Border guards in combat gear prepare to board the ship to search for weapons, ammunition and explosives, as Oleksandr Yakovenko, assistant to the coast guard commander in Odessa, explains.

Once the inspection is complete, the men leave the freighter via a small rope ladder that is attached directly to the hull and sways in the swell. According to Yakovenko, the unit has inspected more than 2,200 ships since the beginning of the year. A fit, well-trained team can manage around 15 ships a day - despite the constant threat of Russian attacks.