Ukraine steps up strikes on Crimea as part of broader strategy in addition to ground attack
Ukraine has stepped up missile and drone attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea, destroying weapons, bases and supply lines as its counter-offensive makes halting progress on the ground in the country’s east and south.
The operations are part of a broader strategy of targeting Russia’s supply lines, logistics and ability to mount offensive operations, Bloomberg wrote on Sept. 29, citing a European official who requested anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.
After taking out advanced air-defense systems that had protected the peninsula, Ukraine used cruise missiles and drones to destroy ships and the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and recaptured drilling platforms used by Russia for radar surveillance. As a result, the Russian fleet has been further limited, cutting the Kremlin’s capabilities, the official said.
The intensified attacks underscore Ukraine’s progress in gradually degrading Russia’s military effort – and provide a reminder of the embattled nation’s broader strategic goal of retaking the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow started to occupy in 2014.
But they aren’t likely to enable Ukraine to make a decisive breakthrough in the ground war this year, said the official.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces targeted the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on Sept. 22, reportedly using British Storm Shadow missiles. SSO fighters aimed these missiles at the headquarters during a meeting of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s leadership.
In a devastating blow inflicted by Ukraine, 34 Russian officers were killed in the attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, with another 105 servicemen sustaining injuries, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces reported on Telegram on Sept. 25.
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