Russia's Ailing Black Sea Fleet To Receive New Missile Carriers

Russia's Black Sea Fleet will be given a boost by the end of the year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on Tuesday. He said the fleet will receive three new missile carriers.

Shoigu made the announcement during a conference call with Russia's military, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported. The Black Sea Fleet will receive three ships of the Karakurt-class, which are carriers of high-precision weapons, the publication said.

The boost comes after Kyiv said a third of Russia's warships in the Black Sea have been sunk or disabled since the war began.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Ukraine has targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet throughout President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of the country, which began in February 2022. Ukraine has vowed to reverse the Russian leader's 2014 annexation of Crimea, which now serves as Moscow's central logistics hub for its forces in southern Ukraine.

"To increase the combat potential of the Navy, we continue to equip it with ships that carry long-range precision weapons. In particular, small missile carriers of the Karakurt type," Shoigu said. "The lead ship of this series, the Cyclone, has become part of the Black Sea Fleet and is successfully performing its assigned tasks."

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that Russia's Black Sea Fleet suffered a "bad month" in March following a string of strikes by Kyiv on Putin's prized vessels.

"The [R]ussian Black Sea Fleet continues to suffer," the ministry said on its social media channels. "Great job by the Ukrainian warriors."

In early March, five Ukrainian MAGURA V5 naval drones hit the Sergey Kotov patrol ship in the Kerch Strait, which separates occupied Crimea from Russia, Kyiv said.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (GUR) said the $65-million ship had suffered damage to its stern and on its left and right sides and eventually sank.

Weeks later, Kyiv's military said on March 24 that it attacked two of Russia's large landing ships, the Yamal and the Azov, in strikes on the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. Ukraine also said it had targeted a Russian communications hub and other, unspecified infrastructure facilities.

Ukraine claimed to have struck the Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship, launched in 2017, in the same strike. Two missiles struck the vessel, independent Russian news outlet Astra reported, citing anonymous sources.

The ship's tasks include providing communications and fleet control, conducting radio reconnaissance and electronic warfare, and monitoring components of enemy missile defense systems.

The vessel was "likely" damaged, Ukrainian navy spokesperson Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk told the United States-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

As Ukraine ramped up its attacks on the Black Sea Fleet, the British Defense Ministry assessed last month that Russia has begun painting decoy submarines at its Black Sea ports in a bid to protect its assets from Ukrainian attacks.

Russia is disguising its Black Sea Fleet vessels with black paint, "likely to make their warships appear smaller and a less appealing target," the U.K.'s Defense Ministry said. "Silhouettes of vessels have also been painted on the side of quays, probably to confuse Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicle operators."

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.