In the Black Sea, Russia is left with only an auxiliary fleet – Ukrainian Navy

In the Black Sea, Russia is left with only an auxiliary fleet – Ukrainian Navy

The Russians in occupied Crimea are left with only the so-called auxiliary fleet instead of combat ships.

In the Black Sea, the enemy has a total of eight vessels capable of carrying guided missiles, but they never use them all at once, said Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesperson for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He explained that on the occupied Ukrainian peninsula, the Russians keep units that cannot be called combat vessels, though they are part of the fleet. Specifically, these are small boats that the enemy uses to guard basing points, patrol water areas, and conduct "anti-sabotage defense."

"These are various boats like ’Grachonok’ or ’Raptor,’ or some other projects. These are small boats that can accommodate a small crew—up to 10 people—who can go out to sea and perform certain tasks. So, these are not ships; they do not have corresponding weaponry. I can say that this is a way for them to adapt to the conditions created for them by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And from time to time, they also lose these boats, especially during rotational activities in some areas of armament that are inaccessible by road transport. Similarly, the Naval Forces destroyed another high-speed boat. They withdrew combat ships from Crimea quite a long time ago," Pletenchuk said.