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The Russian large landing craft Caesar Kunikov, destroyed by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on February 14, has recently been deployed for logistics support. Speaker of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Pletenchuk spoke about this on the FREEDOM TV channel.
“First of all, the destruction of such a ship is a reduction in the landing capabilities of our enemy. What the Russian occupiers frightened us so much about at the beginning of a full-scale invasion – an amphibious landing – is becoming very complicated as a result. These operations are now, in principle, practically impossible both due to the presence of missile coastal artillery troops of the Naval Forces, and due to the fact that a ground operation in this direction is impossible. Nevertheless, at one time they pulled quite a lot of resources from other directions in anticipation of this landing. Well, given the fact that, according to its intended purpose, it could no longer be used, like other ships of its class in the Black Sea, due to the current situation it was used more to solve logistics problems,” he said.
According to Pletenchuk, the Russians also used ships such as the Caesar Kunikov as ferries and even transporting civilians when they once again had problems with the Crimean (Kerch) bridge.
The speaker said that only a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet remained.
“If we take large landing ships, then out of the 13 units that were at the disposal of the Black Sea Fleet at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, only 5 remain operational, another 4 are under repair and 4 were destroyed. As for the overall picture, we can safely say that a third of these ships no longer exist in principle. Another 15 units are under repair, but they retain their main combat core. These are carriers of cruise missiles. Of these, only two were actually destroyed – at the Askold pier and the underwater carrier Rostov-on-Don. There also remain patrol and patrol ships, that is, in principle, they even have 2 more missile boats. Therefore, there is something to work on. And in fact, I would not underestimate the Black Sea Fleet as a grouping,” Pletenchuk said.
Read also: Ukraine sinks another Russian warship
Let us remind you that on February 14, in the Black Sea near Alupka (Crimea), the Russian large landing ship Caesar Kunikov was destroyed. The BDK was attacked by Magura V5 maritime attack drones.
