2023-12-29 21:25:47
With the help of modern Western weapons, the Ukrainians have destroyed expensive Russian military equipment. The successes come at just the right time for the government in Kiev, as it is faced with unpopular decisions.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine celebrated Christmas for the first time this year on December 25th instead of January 7th. This Christmas tree was placed at a contested position in the east of the country.
Libkos/Getty
After a long break, the Ukrainian military has resumed its pinprick attacks against the Russian Black Sea Fleet. On Tuesday he achieved a special coup in the port of Feodosiya on the occupied Crimean peninsula: the landing ship “Novocherkassk” that was anchored there caught fire, exploded and sank.
Circumstances indicate that the Ukrainian Air Force scored a direct hit with a British-French Storm Shadow cruise missile. Presumably the “Novocherkassk” had loaded large quantities of explosives; In any case, videos from the port city show a huge explosion on the burning ship. Officials remain silent about the fate of the crew on board. However, a local news portal reported on Friday that 74 sailors were killed and 27 wounded, citing a military letter. The message was later deleted without explanation.
⚡️The moment of the destruction of the ????????Russian Grand Landing Ship “Novocherkask” in the port of Feodosia. pic.twitter.com/yOdW42x44K
— ????????Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) December 26, 2023
The force of the detonation threw man-sized pieces of steel hundreds of meters away. The nearby train station had to stop operating. Russian authorities did not even attempt to deny the Ukrainian strike. However, they euphemistically spoke of “damage” to the ship. However, pictures on social networks showed a total loss. Only a few structures of the 110-meter-long object still stick out of the water; the entire front part with the cargo space has disappeared. President Volodymyr Zelensky scoffed that the Russian submarine fleet had gained a ship.
A comparison of satellite images also shows the sinking of the “Novocherkassk” and the damage to a nearby warehouse:
New satellite imagery of the Russian warship struck by Ukraine also shows a destroyed warehouse and other damage to the port. pic.twitter.com/6m2kHwU5V4
— Brady Africk (@bradyafr) December 27, 2023
Systematic hunt for Ropucha ships
The Ropucha-class warships, which included the Novocherkassk, were built in the late Soviet era and are used to drop troops and vehicles directly on the shore during landing operations. You can carry up to a dozen tanks. Shortly before the invasion in February 2022, Russia had intensively practiced such attacks.
Russian soldiers and armored personnel carriers are put ashore with Ropucha-class ships during an exercise in autumn 2021.
Konstantin Mihalchevskiy / Imago
In view of the Ukrainian resistance, Moscow had to forego an invasion from the sea. However, the Ropucha-class ships retain their menace and serve as a means of transport for troops and weapons.
If Ukraine one day succeeds in destroying the strategically important Crimean bridge near Kerch, such ships could ensure Russia’s supplies across the strait. Against this background, it also makes military sense to systematically eliminate this type of ship. Of the original ten Ropuchas in the Black Sea at the start of the war, Russia now has seven. In August, a Ukrainian naval drone severely damaged a sister ship of the Novocherkassk; Another fell victim to an air strike in the port of Sevastopol in September.
The Western Storm Shadow cruise missiles are rare and their use is associated with high risks. Before the pilots can fire this weapon, they have to get closer to Russian-controlled airspace and thus to the enemy’s anti-aircraft defenses. According to Russian military circles, the Ukrainian fighter jet in question flew within 40 kilometers of the front. The cruise missile then traveled another 300 kilometers to Feodosiya. It is the only weapon in the Ukrainian arsenal with such a long range, apart from lightly armed drones. Understandably, Kiev has long wanted reinforcements, ideally with German Taurus cruise missiles.
Strengthened Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses
Germany refuses, but in return this month delivered another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. There are some indications that it has already been used: On Friday and Christmas Eve, the Ukrainian military said it shot down five Russian fighter jets, including four modern Su-34 fighter-bombers. There has never been such an accumulation since the first days of the invasion. Russian sources close to the military have confirmed only two kills so far, but that could be a result of censorship and would be an unusual success in itself.
It seems plausible that the Ukrainian leadership secretly moved the new Patriot system immediately to the southeast of the country, as Russian observers suspect. The incident is reminiscent of the series of shoots down in May, when Ukrainian air defense knocked two enemy jets and three helicopters out of the sky within minutes. Only months later did Kiev confirm that this was thanks to a newly delivered Patriot battery. Ukraine now has three batteries, one of which protects the airspace over the capital Kiev.
Patriot systems – the backbone of the air defense of the USA and many allied countries – are characterized by their high performance and range. The Russian Air Force operating in the south of Kherson province apparently did not expect the new threat. Sukhoi-34 fighter-bombers are used there to drop glide bombs on the Ukrainian positions on the Dnipro River. According to the Analysis platform Oryx, which evaluates the material losses of both sides, Russia lost 24 Su-34s over the course of the war – around a sixth of the original inventory.
Scorched earth in Marjinka
After an autumn marked by disappointments, recent successes should give Ukrainians new confidence. However, there were also setbacks over Christmas, which the Christian-Orthodox country celebrated at the same time as the Western churches for the first time this year following a calendar reform. Russia announced the complete capture of the town of Mariinka in Donbass.
Heavy fighting had raged around the village since the beginning of the war. However, it had been largely under Russian control for months – most recently it was only the western reaches. There is hardly a spot on the Ukrainian map that illustrates the madness of this war more dramatically than Mariinka: the place is completely destroyed, deserted and plowed over by the force of countless shells. It took Russia a whole year to conquer the last three square kilometers of ruins.
Mar’inka…. ???? completely wiped off the earth by the Russians. They captured ruins. pic.twitter.com/Wx1wPwhmYn
— NOELREPORTS ???????? ???????? (@NOELreports) December 25, 2023
To continue the war, Ukraine must recruit new soldiers. The government is faced with the unpopular decision to announce a partial mobilization and take tougher action against shirkers. A harbinger is a draft law that became known at Christmas, which envisages that position orders can also be sent electronically. There should be tougher sanctions against deserters.
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