Ukraine claims that Russian warships are still launching strikes from the Black Sea, even after the alleged death of the commander of Moscow's Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov.
Sokolov, as well as 33 other officers, were reportedly killed in a Ukrainian attack on the Black Sea headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday. This was the most daring attack by Ukrainian forces on the occupied peninsula of Crimea to date.
Ukraine Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said that Russia is still launching strikes from the Black Sea, but that the operations are now "like a chicken running around without a head."
"At this moment, they (the Russian Navy) lost the person who actually manages all of this, and his staff, who manages the fleet together with him. This is a large grouping that requires a great number of managers to run all the processes to make it (the fleet) work as a single mechanism," Pletenchuk said.
"Imagine that the core part of this mechanism becomes inoperable."
Pletenchuk said that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not control the actual operation of ships at sea and relies on his admirals who know "their means and forces, personnel, how to manage them, how to better deploy them."
"Therefore, as of now, they will have respective problems with the control of the troops," he said.
Ukraine has increasingly been hitting strategic Russian targets in Crimea, which Moscow has occupied since 2014. Ukraine has not given up hope of reclaiming it.
Meanwhile, the first US Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine. The tanks are part of a new $2.8 billion military aid package from the United States.
The arrival of the Abrams tanks is a major boost for Ukraine's military. The tanks are considered to be one of the most powerful and advanced tanks in the world.
Ukraine has been asking for Abrams tanks for months, but the United States was reluctant to provide them because of the long training time required to operate them. However, the United States has now decided to provide the tanks due to the increasing threat posed by Russia.
The arrival of the Abrams tanks is a sign of the United States' commitment to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. The tanks will help Ukraine to deter further Russian aggression and to defend its territory.
0 Comments