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Russian Black Sea Fleet Crippled Again as Ukraine Damages Three Ships in Crimea
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has conducted a successful, multi-tiered operation in temporarily occupied Crimea, striking three Russian military vessels, critical radar systems, and vital enemy logistics, according to an official statement released on April 18.
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Operators from the SBU’s elite “Alpha” Special Operations Center orchestrated the complex strike. During the assault, Ukrainian forces successfully hit the following Russian Navy targets:
The large landing ship “Yamal”
The large landing ship “Azov”
An unidentified Russian military vessel
Additionally, the SBU noted there is intelligence indicating the likely targeting and damage of a Project 21980 “Grachonok” anti-sabotage boat.
Beyond the naval vessels, the SBU’s unmanned aerial vehicles inflicted severe damage on the onshore infrastructure supporting the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The drones successfully struck the antenna block of the “Dolphin” communication system, an MR-10M1 “Mys-M1” radar station, and bulk fuel storage tanks at the “Yugtorsan” oil depot.
The SBU emphasized that this operation is part of a campaign to completely dismantle the Russia’s presence along the entire frontline, with a specific focus on temporarily occupied Crimea.
“The Service’s warriors are degrading the combat capability of the fleet, purposefully undermining logistics, and depriving the enemy of the ability to fully use the peninsula as a military base,” the SBU stated. “Each strike on ships and critical infrastructure has a cumulative effect and directly impacts Russia’s ability to wage war.”
The agency warned that the intensity and depth of SBU operations will only continue to increase until Russian forces lose all capability to operate on Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian drone strikes in Crimea have forced the Russian Navy into a state of heightened panic far beyond the Black Sea. According to recent OSINT analysis, Russian diesel-electric submarines stationed at the Kronstadt naval base near Saint Petersburg are now being outfitted with improvised anti-drone defenses.
Images reveal that the Project 06363 “Mozhaysk” and Project 877EKM “Dmitrov” submarines have been equipped with metal “cage armor” over their sails to protect critical periscopes and antennas, alongside mounted 12.7 mm heavy machine guns and searchlights. With floating barriers also deployed across the harbor to deter uncrewed surface vessels, this desperate adaptation in the Baltic region proves that the overwhelming success of Ukraine’s unmanned maritime and aerial strikes is forcing Moscow to overhaul force protection measures across its entire naval fleet.
