Russia's Black Sea struggles

 Independent:

Russia’s attempt to capture more Ukrainian territory is being “undermined” by its inability to exert control over the Black Sea, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

The Kremlin has suffered numerous naval setbacks in recent months, including the sinking of its flagship, the Moskva, which Ukrainian forces hit with anti-ship missiles on 14 April.

Vladimir Putin’s forces are also struggling because they have lost many of their jets and are no longer in control of the strategically-important Snake Island, according to the MoD. It added that Russian ships are sticking close to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

“The surface vessels of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet continue to pursue an extremely defensive posture, with patrols generally limited to waters within sight of the Crimean coast,” the British government said in an update on Tuesday morning.

Although Russian vessels continue to pound targets in Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, they do not have effective control of the Black Sea, the statement added.

As a result, the MoD believes the threat of a Russian amphibious attack on the port of Odesa has been “largely neutralised”, freeing up Ukrainian troops to fight elsewhere.
...

See, also:

 More explosions rock Russian-controlled Crimea

The Russian war against Ukraine continues to expose its military weakness and ineptitude.  The longer Putin pushes this conflict the weaker Russia becomes. 

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