Putin Dealt Double Blow as Ally Admits Black Sea Fleet Failure

A staunch ally of Vladimir Putin lamented the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet, dealing the Russian president a double blow as his Navy was forced to hold a muted annual parade on Sunday.

In a rare admission of Russia's military failures, Yevgeny Fyodorov from the ruling United Russia party complained that Ukraine has disabled such a large proportion of Putin's prized Black Sea Fleet that it is essentially "gone."

Roughly a third of Putin's prized Black Sea Fleet has been disabled by Ukrainian forces, according to Dmytro Pletenchuk, a former Ukrainian Navy spokesperson.

Russia has been forced to relocate many of its warships from annexed Crimea to Novorossiysk in Russia's Krasnodar region and its naval port in Feodosia further east on the annexed peninsula due to relentless Ukrainian attacks.

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

A clip of Fyodorov's remarks was shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday by Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs.

"The Russian fleet as an operational mechanism in the Black Sea does not exist! Not physically, but in terms of its actual combat presence. This is a fact," the State Duma deputy said.

"Where is the fleet? It's gone. This is really a victory of the enemy. It's a fact. That fact of the enemy's victory. And the fact that the ships are still there somewhere, somewhere in Sevastopol or Novorossiysk, well, perhaps they are. But they do not exist in terms of a strategic combat unit. That is, they do not control the Black Sea," Fyodorov went on.

"Do you understand? This is the fact of defeat. It's a defeat. It must be accepted. Like we accepted the defeat of Kherson, surrendered Kherson. Kherson was ours," he added, referring to Ukraine's partially occupied southern Kherson region.

In an intelligence update on Monday, the British Defence Ministry noted Ukraine's success in disabling Russia's Black Sea Fleet throughout the war.

"At least one-third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been sunk, destroyed, or damaged, according to the Ukrainian Navy. And the remaining Russian fleet has been pushed east, fleeing persistent Ukrainian attacks," the ministry said.

"Ukraine's success was partly made possible by their innovative naval technology: Neptune, their homegrown anti-ship missiles; Sea Baby, their domestically produced unscrewed surface vessel; Magura V5, their own multi-use unscrewed surface vessel," it added.

In May, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) said its Magura V5 maritime drones had caused $500 million worth of damage to Russia's naval vessels throughout the war. The Magura V5 drone is the "main and best weapon available to Ukraine" to target the Black Sea Fleet, HUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov said.

Putin was dealt another blow on Sunday as his Navy held a notably muted annual parade to mark the Day of the Russian Navy. The main parade in Kronstadt was canceled, while a smaller event took place in St. Petersburg in the Neva River.

For the first time, there was also no parade held in the Black Sea or in Novorossiysk "for security reasons", Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.

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