The Ukrainian Navy said it sank a Russian FSB patrol boat near Novorossiysk, a Russian city on the Black Sea.
“The Ukrainian Navy destroyed the Russian FSB border patrol ship Izumrud,” the Ukrainian Navy wrote on its Telegram channel. “Ukrainian sailors sank the 2nd-rank border patrol ship using a Sargan-3000 unmanned maritime system near Novorossiysk. There are casualties and injuries among the ship’s crew.”
Su-34 Fullback. Creator: Vitaly V. Kuzmin. Credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin
“It was the Izumrud that took part in the attack on Ukrainian Navy ships in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018,” the post noted, adding that “retribution is inevitable. To be continued…”
A War at Sea
The attack on the FSB ship is just a small facet of what is a widening Ukrainian strike campaign that has put Russian ships as well as a variety of targets on land in Kyiv’s crosshairs. On the maritime front, Ukrainian forces have been largely successful in crimping Russia’s ability to operate on the Black Sea.
In a post on social media, Ukraine’s drone chief, Robert Brovdi — callsign Magyar — explained what his drone operators have been doing recently. “Over the past 9 days, 116 vessels have been intercepted by the SBS “Birds” in the Sea of Azov,” the commander wrote. He added that a number of Russian ships have been targeted, ships that include 5 tankers, 5 dry cargo ships, and 1 tugboat.
“The shadow fleet is dwindling,” he wrote, but added that “it must disappear as a species.”
Russian T-72 Tank Ukraine War. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov has been a vital maritime area for Russia, linking the country to markets in Eastern Europe and abroad. But the Kerch Strait, a crucial waterway that links the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea, has been strangled by Ukrainian forces.
Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the waterway saw as much as a quarter of Russia’s grain exports transit the passage, as well as significant amounts of other goods, including refined energy products, steel, fertilizer, and other commodities. Russia is the world’s leading grain exporter and one of the world’s largest exporters of oil and gas.
More than 100 Russian vessels have reportedly been struck in the Sea of Azov, a number that is likely to increase in scope.
A War on Gas and Oil
Complementing Ukraine’s strikes at sea are Kyiv’s long-range aerial drones, which have been aimed at oil and gas refineries and transportation infrastructure throughout Russia. That campaign, which is still unfolding, has targeted the Russian state’s single-largest source of revenue: taxes levied on energy products leaving the country.
It is all part of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dubbed Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” campaign against Russia, a campaign bent on hobbling the Russian war machine’s funding pipeline. So far, Kyiv’s effort has been shockingly successful.
Oil and gas refineries throughout Russia have quite literally erupted thanks to repeated strikes by Ukrainian strike drones as well as Kyiv’s limited but capable stock of cruise missiles. Some of the refineries Ukraine has targeted are thousands of miles distant from the front lines in Ukraine, a testament to how far Ukrainian drone capabilities have increased.
Energy Shortages in Crimea and Russia
Ukraine has also subjected Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Moscow since 2014, to repeated strikes. And in a sign of how successful Ukrainian drone operations against Russian facilities on the peninsula have been, the Moscow-installed puppet government there has begun implementing rolling blackouts in Sevastopol, one of Crimea’s largest cities, allowing two-hour windows of power followed by longer, six-hour blackout windows.
While blackouts like those in Crimea have seemingly been avoided in Russia, Ukraine has enjoyed an enormous amount of success in turning the war in Ukraine into a part of everyday life for ordinary Russians. As the war grinds forward toward its fifth year, it has become increasingly difficult for Russia’s civilian population to ignore the war in Ukraine. Forced to grapple with long lines at the pump — when fuel is available — the war has become hard to ignore.
But Russian attacks on Ukraine continue. On Wednesday, Russia launched strikes against Odesa, the Ukrainian coastal city on the Black Sea and one of Ukraine’s most significant ports. At least one residential building was hit in the strikes, with civilian casualties reported.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
