In place of its big warships, the Ukrainian navy has built up a large flotilla of riverine patrol vessels while also acquiring explosives-laden drone boats and multi-role cruise missiles.
The patrol vessels safeguard the wide Dnipro River and even help protect Kyiv from Russian drones and missiles. The Ukrainian navy’s robotic boats are its main maritime strike weapons. Swarming Russian anchorages at night, they’ve damaged or destroyed several smaller Black Sea Fleet vessels and, equally importantly, compelled the Russians to redeploy their ships to ports farther east, away from Ukraine’s main trade corridor in the western Black Sea.
And then there are the Neptunes, the Ukrainian navy’s homemade cruise missiles. Reinforced by American-made Harpoon cruise missiles, the ground-launched Neptunes have inflicted catastrophic damage on Russian forces.
In April 2022, Neptunes sank the 612-foot missile cruiser Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet flagship. And this summer, Neptunes struck Russian air force surface-to-air missile batteries in Crimea and cleared a path for the Ukrainian air force to fire Storm Shadow / SCALP missiles at the Russian anchorage in Sevastopol on 13 September. Storm Shadow and SCALP are the British and French names for the same missile, in service with both nations and sent to Ukraine by both. It is mostly French made but has a British warhead, and it’s the longest ranging precision strike weapon in the Ukrainian armoury.
The Storm Shadows blew up two Black Sea Fleet warships resting in a drydock: an amphibious landing ship and the diesel-electric attack submarine Rostov-on-Don.
Ukraine’s ship-less naval offensive has all but defeated the Black Sea Fleet. Yes, the Russian fleet occasionally fires cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities. But it can’t risk sailing into the western Black Sea to interdict the cargo ships that export Ukrainian grain through the Bosporus Strait out into the world’s oceans and help sustain the Ukrainian economy.
After all, Turkey controls the Bosporus and isn’t allowing warships to pass through. That means the Black Sea Fleet cannot receive reinforcements as long as the war grinds on. It must preserve its surviving ships.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
