War in Ukraine: Reviving tensions in the Black Sea

The military loss is insignificant, but symbolic. Russia announced on Wednesday, May 31, that it had destroyed an amphibious assault ship in Odesa, a port city located in southern Ukraine, that was presented as the last survivor of the Ukrainian war fleet. “29 [mai], After being hit by a high-precision weapon (…) The last ship of the Ukrainian Navy at the mooring area of ​​military ships in the port of Odesa, Yuri Olefirenko, destroyed”– said in the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

Built in Gdansk, Poland in the early 1970s, this military transport ship, which has been used several times since the start of the conflict, has been hidden by Ukrainian forces for months. Circulated on Russian social networks, but cannot be confirmed Yuri Olefirenko It was hit by a rocket, which caused a fire and an explosion of the ammunition in the building’s warehouses (81 meters long, 1200 tons). When questioned by Agence France-Presse, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, Oleh Chalik, did not officially deny the loss of the ship, but urged “I don’t pay attention” Russian sources.

The only thing that is certain is that this announcement comes against the backdrop of growing tensions in the Black Sea. While military operations there seemed to be frozen, Ukraine attacked a Russian surveillance and reconnaissance ship on May 24. Ivane Khurs. Rising from the Mediterranean Sea and only from the Bosphorus Strait, the building (95 meters, 4,000 tons) would be attacked by three naval aircraft, more than 400 kilometers from the coast of Ukraine. Moscow claimed to have destroyed the devices, but Kiev released a video showing that at least one of them reached the ship, but it was not clear if it caused any damage.

On paper, Russia has a very clear advantage over Ukraine in terms of naval assets. According to the Oryx website, which lists the losses of the two warships based on visual evidence, twenty-six Ukrainian warships have been destroyed or captured by Russia since the start of the conflict, nearly its entire war fleet. On March 3, 2022, the Ukrainians especially had to sink a frigate in Mykolaiv port. Hetman Sahaidashin (123 meters, 3,100 tons), the flagship of their arsenal, to keep it out of Russian hands. Army transport Yuri Olefirenko He himself survived the first bombardment at sea in June 2022.