Foreign Affairs

TexasTowelie

(112,443 posts) Sat Nov 11, 2023, 12:15 AM Nov 2023

10 Nov: Footage: Russian warships being sent to the bottom of the sea - Reporting from Ukraine

Day 625: Nov 10

Today, the biggest news comes from the south.

First of all, Ukrainians conducted a combined strike on Crimea and destroyed 2 more Russian warships. Interestingly, Ukrainians did not use a lot to achieve such a success. The reason behind the effectiveness of the strike is a very clever tactic.

The strike started from the drone attack on Feodosia. Ukrainians reportedly sent one drone to hit the massive fuel depot. This fuel depot recently became an object of strategic significance as Russians relocated a portion of their Black Sea Fleet here. Shortly after that, the second drone was spotted in the sky.

Simultaneously, Ukrainians launched a Neptune missile in the direction of Sevastopol, which was the main base of the Russian Fleet. Russians understood that the drone strike was just a decoy and focused on protecting the bay. Interestingly, Russian sources reported that the Russian air defense failed to shoot it down, however, the Russians got lucky, and the missile deviated from the target and fell right next to the barracks. After missing the first missile, stressed Russian commanders alerted all detachments and directed everyone’s eyes to the sky. Soon, another Neptune missile was detected by the Russian radar, this time heading toward Chernomorske. According to Russian sources, Russians managed to intercept this missile. Unfortunately for Russians, it was part of the decoy plan.

While Russian forces were looking up, 4 Ukrainian speedboats sneaked into the bay and started hunting down Russian warships. Ukrainian Intelligence has just released the video of the attack. As can be seen from the footage, the first drone did not even face any resistance and freely parked right next to the ship, confirming that the Russians were caught by surprise. The targets of the kamikaze drones became 2 assault-landing ships “Serna”. What is more, apart from having the whole crew on the board, Russians had an armored fighting vehicle and an air defense system “TOR-M2”. A Ukrainian captain of the first rank commented on the attack and said that the boats carried at least 100 kilograms of explosives. He also noted that the engines of both vessels were working, which indicates that Ukrainians managed to hit them right before the relocation to another region.

Recently released satellite footage confirms that both ships were sunk. The first ship was hit perfectly due to no resistance and sank very quickly, while the second one did not. Russians tried to save it but eventually failed. These are the ships that Russians used at the beginning of the invasion to assault Snake Island. Moreover, Russian analysts admitted that Ukrainians chose their targets wisely because these types of ships present the most effective means for countering amphibious operations and marine drones. They concluded that the destruction of these ships means that Russians can expect intensification of raids on the Russian bases along the western shore of the peninsula.

In total, Ukrainians used just 2 drones, 2 Neptune missiles, and 4 boats to destroy 2 assault-landing ships, making it the most efficient combined strike on the Black Sea Fleet.

But this is not the end of good news. Today, Ukrainian reconnaissance drone operators noticed a large convoy that was delivering additional troops and ammunition to the Kherson front. It seems like some Russian commanders still have not learned from their mistakes and are forcing their troops to move in long columns. Once the column made a temporary stop, the drone operator communicated the coordinates to the HIMARS crews.

The target of the first two rockets became the head and the tail of the column to immobilize the Russians. 3 drivers managed to move their vehicles away, while others were either wounded or panicked and ran away. The follow-up was immediate and targeted the remaining vehicles in the center. As a result, almost the whole column was wiped out. The drone operators managed to count 25 killed and 20 wounded troops. Other trucks carried ammunition and detonated, causing a huge fire.

The column was meant to reinforce the Russians who are holding defense near the island Velykyi Potiomkin because this is where Ukrainians recently conducted a series of successful amphibious operations and established a new bridgehead. But more on that a bit later.