Military Expert: NATO Helped Ukraine Strike Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol
13:09 GMT 22.09.2023 (Updated: 08:30 GMT 23.09.2023)
© Sputnik / Alexander Polegenko
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The headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol came under a Ukrainian missile strike on Friday, as per the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Ukrainian military attacked a historic building of the Black Sea headquarters in Sevastopol this September 22, with one Russian military serviceman going missing, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense (Mod). The MoD specified that during the Kiev regime's attack on Sevastopol, five enemy missiles had been shot down by Russia's air defenses.
"[The Ukrainians] mostly attack with Storm Shadows, they are British-made, it is quite likely that they are also French, they are basically identical and almost identical among the French SCALPs," Vasily Dandykin, a captain 1st rank reserve and military expert, told Sputnik. "The Americans have not yet delivered their ballistic missiles with a firing range of 300 kilometers. These missiles [Storm Shadow – Sputnik] are quite insidious, they hit the Chongarsky Bridge with them twice; they hit our plant in Sevastopol. Seven were shot down, three penetrated."
"All this is orchestrated with the help of curators and patrons [from the West]. Even though they criticize Ukrainians for such behavior and that it's not what they are taught. They provide [Kiev] with intelligence data - US strategic surface drones are constantly hovering there – they provide data from strategic aviation, which is in the neutral waters of the Black Sea, they also provide, accordingly, space reconnaissance, especially from satellites that hang in low orbits."
A missile warning sound was heard in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, in the morning of September 22. According to Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, the fleet's headquarters were subjected to a rocket strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Heavy smoke was seen emerging from the city center.
"The enemy launched a missile attack on the fleet headquarters. A fragment fell near the Lunacharsky Theater... All operational services went to the incident scene. Information about the victims is being clarified. Please remain calm. And do not post photos and videos," Razvozhaev said on Telegram. He warned of a possible new attack on the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters.
The news came after the Russian MoD earlier announced that the peninsular air defenses destroyed a Ukrainian guided missile and two aircraft-type drones off the west coast of Crimea. Two drones were also shot down on the night of September 22, according to the MoD.
Razvozhaev first warned that another attack was possible, but later wrote: "missile and air threat end." Nonetheless, he urged residents not to travel to the city center where roads were blocked and investigative activities went on.
Per Dandykin, Kiev's Western military curators and their proxies take many factors into account while planning these strikes.
"They plan how to bypass our air defenses and distract them; everything is taken into account - how many missiles are there in our installations, how long it takes to reload, and so on," the Russian military expert explained. "They can launch drones. Yesterday we saw a massive drone raid; it is likely that they were checking [Russian air defense] readiness. We repelled the strike and shot down everything. (…) The fact is that our Black Sea sailors are ready for such situations."
Dandykin noted that the Russian military is due to analyze where the strikes came from and take a closer look at the remaining Ukrainian military forces in Odessa. "They attack, as I understand it, mainly from the south of Ukraine, from Odessa," the expert suggested.
"We must take into account that this is probably the only thing they are now capable of in the situation when their counteroffensive failed. This means hitting our territories, shelling the Bryansk region, Belgorod, Kursk. This means to hit the Kherson region, the Zaporozhye region, including the nuclear power plant, and, accordingly, to attack long-suffering Donetsk and Gorlovka. Here they don't spare shells, although they always complain that they don’t have enough. "[US President Joe] Biden also gave them cluster munitions. It's pure slaughtering, as [Ukrainians] are shooting at civilians. We need to be even more vigilant and more effective," Dandykin concluded.
21 September 2023, 12:13 GMT
