There is currently only one Russian submarine in Black Sea - Pletenchuk
This was reported by Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, on the air of the United News telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"As for the Black Sea, there was a rotation there. The submarine that was previously in the Black Sea returned to its home base in Novorossiysk and was replaced by a similar submarine of the same project, the 636th, and it is now on duty. This means that there is only one such submarine in the Black Sea," he said.
According to him, this submarine is there more for combat duty than for use. «This [use] is now extremely rare and, as we see, extremely unsuccessful," Pletenchuk said.
The spokesperson informed that they have not actually observed any threats from the Sea of Azov.
He said that after several successful strikes around the area, the Russians drew the appropriate conclusions and eventually left the area in principle.
"These conclusions are based on the fact that the Navy, for example, was able to destroy the drone warehouses in Yeysk, and was able to hit the ferry in the port of Kavkaz. Other components of the Defence Forces are also contributing to such attacks, so Azov is now virtually liberated from the Russians, so to speak, if we take the ship component. Unfortunately, the coastline is still under Russian occupation," Pletenchuk said.
Answering a question about the state of the remaining Russian fleet, the spokesman explained that the main element that could pose a danger to Ukraine is cruise missile carriers, of which Russia has 8 units in the Black Sea.
"These are three submarines, the fate of which is currently unclear. But these are the only units that they actually use all the time, because they are hidden underwater. And the rest of the carriers are at the basing point, most likely, waiting to be disposed of by our hands," he said.
Pletenchuk believes that the only right thing for the Russians to do now would be to leave the area completely.
"But, as you can see, they are not doing this, not having a repair base, because Novorossiysk will not be able to fully service it, firstly, and secondly, it is not a fact that it will be as safe for them. More precisely, it is likely to be as dangerous as in Crimea, for example," the spokesman said.
He said that regardless of the number of units that the Russians have left there, one should look at the quality of the remains of their ship grouping.
"Because the rest of the ships, of which there are also a couple of dozen, cannot actually be used for combat operations as of now. These are missile boats, patrol and guard ships. All of these units are currently doing nothing but staying at the Novorossiysk base, where, according to official reports, Ukrainian drones are already being delivered, if we are to use the language of numbers. Now the only question is when it will happen," Pletenchuk said.
As reported, as of 6:00 a.m. on 6 July, two Russian warships carrying Kalibr missiles were in the Black Sea, firing a total of up to 8 missiles.
