Russian Defense Ministry planning to protect Black Sea Fleet from Ukrainian strikes - ISW

That's according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.

ISW analysts believe that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's posturing to protect the BSF sets conditions for him to either take credit should the BSF become more effective at protecting itself against Ukrainian strikes or blame other commanders should the BSF fail in this effort.

According to the report, a Ukrainian strike campaign has forced the BSF to redeploy the majority of its naval assets away from its main base in Sevastopol to smaller and less capable bases in Novorossiysk and elsewhere.

Experts said that Shoigu visited the BSF command post in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea where he received reports about Ukrainian operations and the BSF's performance. He emphasized that the BSF must conduct daily training exercises to repel aerial and unmanned maritime vehicle strikes so that all Russian crews are ready to defend against such strikes. Shoigu ordered that the BSF install additional weapons, including large-caliber systems and machine guns, on unspecified BSF assets to augment Russian defenses.

Shoigu also received a report from Russian Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk, whom some Russian sources recently claimed replaced Admiral Viktor Sokolov as BSF commander. However, ISW could not confirm this claim.