"Russian Ships Have Turned Into Museum Pieces."
2- 20.04.2026, 15:53
- 3,522
Ukraine has established full control over the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate published a video of a strike on the Russian large landing ships Yamal and Nikolai Filchenkov in Sevastopol Bay. The footage shows precision hits on the ships, and Ukrainian intelligence claims that they were both disabled.
What damage could the Russian ships have sustained, judging by the footage?
The site Charter97.org talked to Ukrainian military and political observer of the group "Information Resistance" Alexander Kovalenko about it:
- These are Soviet-built ships: projects 775 and 1171. Each of them is about half a century old. They are quite old. But the main thing is that in fact today we can say that Russia is deprived of the ability to fully, serially produce large landing ships that would fully meet its needs.
The only project that they have today and which they are trying to somehow realize is project 11711, the lead ship "Ivan Gren". But it is a very unsuccessful project of a large landing ship. Therefore, Russia remains entirely dependent on the Soviet legacy. It is the Soviet ships that today perform the main task of transporting both vehicles and cargo for virtually all of Russia's fleets: the Baltic Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, and the Black Sea Fleet (no longer a fleet, but a flotilla).
So this is a very painful blow for Russia. But the question is how much of it is not just painful, but how much is truly devastating. The drone strike came to the command deckhouse, primarily to the area where the main instruments and control systems of the ship are concentrated. And if they are damaged, they must be replaced and repaired.
This is practically unfeasible for Russia. It cannot very quickly, in the shortest possible time, fully compensate for it. That is why a blow to the captain's deckhouse, which is actually the command post, is in some sense even more destructive and destructive for the ship than a blow that was followed by the flooding of some of the compartments and so on.
The destruction and damage to the control system, complexes, radars, the entire set of radar equipment that is installed on this superstructure is very sensitive. For Russia, the destruction of any microelectronic base is always sensitive.
For example, Ukraine's fight against Russia's air defenses became successful primarily due to the fact that the AFU did not simply focus on destroying the launchers of Russian surface-to-air missile systems, but initially hit the most painful thing for Russia - what it cannot quickly compensate, restore and repair. These are radar systems, radars. It's similar here. The ship may even be on the move, it can be transported somewhere, although, as far as I know, they have previously received some damage during strikes and now cannot fully fulfill their combat missions.
The blow to the captain's cabin leads to the fact that a significant part of the control instruments, the control system is out of order. It will now be just a museum piece.
- What consequences for the Russian Federation will be that the Black Sea Fleet can no longer be fully used in the war?
- For the Russian Federation it is a complete loss of control over the Black Sea. Russia can't control the Black Sea now, it doesn't have that capability and it doesn't have the forces. It may sound too bold, but I can say that it is Ukraine that has full control over the Black Sea now.
-The way we can control the Black Sea, no other country that is washed by its waters can afford it. Not even Turkey, which, you could say, has by far the most powerful navy, specifically naval forces. Turkey is by far the strongest in the waters of the Black Sea in the region.
But if we talk specifically about the ability to control the Black Sea, they can't control it the way Ukraine can afford it. So it became a systematic, step-by-step retreat for Russia from 2022 to the format of losing control of the Black Sea. And Russia has indeed lost it in the subsequent period. And will never be able to regain it again.
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