Putin verliert zunehmend die Kontrolle über Russlands Tor zur Krim

[Vladimir Putin](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?srsltid=AfmBOoovzWJY3CImaCygpdErGoam5v2TvDHF03W_RVDta-r_sG8EyxpB&ico=in-line_link) is losing his grip on the gateway to the Black Sea after Ukraine launched a series of devastating attacks on Russian ships in the critical waterway that heralds an extraordinary reversal of fortunes.

Kyiv has been using drones to target Russian tankers sailing across the Sea of Azov, a key inland sea off the south of [Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/ukraine?ico=in-line_link) that connects to the Black Sea, Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.

Ukraine’s armed forces have posted dramatic videos showing aerial and [sea drones](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/ukrainian-undersea-drones-blew-russian-sub-matters-4112799?srsltid=AfmBOorthXKtny5n2SPxgtQIyIvtNxZUpSroyPfP7wGfgNZpLKBbimv-&ico=in-line_link) hurtling into Moscow’s “shadow fleet” vessels in the waterway.

[Russia](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia?srsltid=AfmBOoqOVw_mRrbQzrYGmcZpHppmDqqoeonGB3eb-GDhrHKdRV3qTMQ0&ico=in-line_link) has been forced to suspend shipping through the Don-Azov canal, which connects the Caspian Sea to the Azov and Black Sea via the river network, *Reuters* reported. Ukraine claims Russia can no longer use the Kerch Strait that separates occupied Crimea from Russia.

The scenes pushed Sergei Lavrov, Putin’s veteran foreign minister, into a rage-filled rant this week in which he branded the attacks “acts of terrorism” that went “beyond even piracy”, while admitting that they were “inflicting damage and spreading fear”.

The drone attacks on Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov have sharply escalated since Ukraine launched the operation on 6 July. Major Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s ‌drone forces (USF), said on Wednesday that Kyiv had hit 159 vessels since the start of the operation, including 117 in the Sea of Azov and 42 in the Black Sea.

“These strikes have been remarkably successful,” said William Freer, research fellow in national security at the Council on Geostrategy in London. “Ukraine has hit over 100 vessels in the last couple of weeks in a sea lane deep behind Russian lines.”

Freer added: “Not only has the impact of those ships disabled been felt, very few ships are proving willing to run the gauntlet, with less than half the number of ships transiting the Sea of Azov compared to previous flows.”

Ukraine’s armed forces said the tankers were being used to transport oil and petroleum products “while circumventing international sanctions, providing funds to finance the armed aggression against Ukraine”.

Brovdi said Russia’s “shadow fleet is wasting away” through “an incurable paralysis of logistics”.

The strikes mark a major reversal of fortunes in the war. For years, the Sea of Azov was out of reach of Ukraine’s drones, allowing Russia to use Crimea as a launchpad for attacks on the country’s south and to export the fuel that props up its war machine.

Now, advances in Ukraine’s drone technology have opened up new possibilities.

“This is the Ukrainians trying to make the defence of the Crimean Peninsula untenable,” said Jacob Parakilas, research leader in defence, security and justice at Rand Europe.

The attacks are building on Ukraine’s simultaneous middle-range drone [campaign to choke off Crimea](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/crimea-burning-putins-grip-weakened-4493625?srsltid=AfmBOornVF_Y4ivxGO8w00Wofkf7l-Ujewg5OiqcWNIdCpTjDeKNFqsK&ico=in-line_link). This has [targeted rail and road logistics networks](https://inews.co.uk/news/ukraine-set-russia-ablaze-putins-humiliation-complete-4481787?ico=in-line_link) that link Russia with Russian-occupied mainland Ukraine and Crimea, [as well as oil refineries](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/deadly-black-rain-attacks-putins-important-industry-4397490?srsltid=AfmBOooSoMROfPyzHhcGPZ_jpaks_yUqj2Hl6BOghRTqA0Cgd5wWunac&ico=in-line_link), ports and factories, prompting widespread energy shortages.

These have led to queues at petrol stations in Crimea, where residents are reporting shortages of food and water as well as [gasoline](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-emergency-regime-ukraine-drones-crimea-oil-3311948?ico=in-line_link), which authorities have restricted for non-civilian use only. This comes on top of blackouts and disruptions to communications.

Queues for fuel at a petrol station in Crimea after authorities restricted sales amid a supply shortage following Ukrainian attacks on logistics routes (Photo: Reuters)

On Thursday, Ukraine’s navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said that drone operations in the Azov Sea had paralysed Russian fuel shipping and complicated Russian supply deliveries to occupied Crimea. Some Russian insurers will no longer provide war-risk coverage to vessels in the region, according to Russia’s *Kommersant* newspaper.

Crimea is vulnerable, Parakilas told *The i Paper*. “The Crimean Peninsula is not particularly self-sustaining, and particularly the forces that defend it are not self-sustaining. They need support, they need ammunition, food, fuel, shipped from mainland Russia.”

Apart from the Kerch Bridge, which Ukraine has repeatedly attacked during the war, there are only a handful of points where supplies can be moved by road and rail, and these points are narrow. “Most of the space is swamp or water, so you can pretty effectively cut off routes from the mainland by hitting those pinch points,” Parakilas added.

“This land middle-strike campaign and nautical mid-strike campaign are part of the same pincer movement, an attempt to remove Crimea’s ability to sustain and defend itself,” said Parakilas. “It opens up a set of possibilities that are, broadly speaking, favourable to Ukraine, which is aiming to retrieve as much of its 1991 territory as possible.”

The strikes pose fresh challenges to Moscow, Freer told *The i Paper*. “The supply lines to Crimea are now under serious strain, with the land route already coming under increasing Ukrainian interdiction.”

He added that “Russian air defences will now face even more overstretch in order to attempt to cover the most likely routes Ukrainian drones might take to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea Fleet may be pushed to come out from hiding to provide naval escort protection, putting their remaining warships at risk of being damaged or destroyed”.

Ukraine also looks set to step up its operations in the wider Black Sea, to tighten the screws.

Much of Russia’s seaborne trade, including roughly a quarter of its grain exports, flows through the Azov. “Beyond the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea (in particular the port of Novorossiysk, Russia’s third busiest port) also accounts for a significant proportion of seaborne trade for Russia,” said Freer.

Earlier this week, Brovdi declared that the Black Sea would be the scene of the next phase of Ukraine’s campaign: “The first round of the maritime battle is over. Now, it’s the Black Sea.”

In a warning to Russia’s foreign minister, he added: “No piracy, Lavrov, just business.”

„No piracy, Ladrov, just business“

Perfection.