The Black Sea Fleet inflicted over 180 Caliber strikes on targets in Ukraine

The ships of the Black Sea Fleet have inflicted more than 180 strikes with Kalibr complexes on the objects of the Ukrainian army since the beginning of the special operation, declared Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov.

“The main targets of destruction were radar stations of air defense systems, points of temporary deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine [вооруженных сил Украины]warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons, oil depots, fuel depots, air bases, railway stations,” Sokolov said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

In addition to Caliber, the Bal and Bastion missile systems were used, the Vice Admiral specified. According to him, the entire subdivision of the coastal missile and artillery troops of the fleet attacked 70 objects of the Ukrainian troops.

At the end of April, the Russian Ministry of Defense reportedthat the Ukrainian troops tried to attack the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol with three unmanned speedboats. As a result, all the boats were destroyed, there were no casualties or damage, the Ministry of Defense stressed.

This is not the first time Ukraine has attacked ships of the Black Sea Fleet. On the morning of October 29, 2022, Ukraine attacked ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian ships in the roadstead in Sevastopol. According to the military department, nine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and seven autonomous marine ones were involved in the attack. As a result, the sea minesweeper “Ivan Golubets” was damaged, as well as the bonnet barrier in Yuzhnaya Bay.

April 25 Ministry of Defense statedthat such actions by Kyiv jeopardize the extension of the grain deal. Then the department recalled that after Kyiv’s attack on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet in October 2022, Russia suspended participation in the Black Sea initiative. The agreement was renewed only thanks to Turkey’s guarantees and Ukraine’s written commitments not to use the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports for attacks against Russia, the Defense Ministry said.

Earlier today, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar informedthat the quadripartite meeting in Istanbul on the grain deal (Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN) was positive and the parties are moving towards its extension.

The last time the grain deal was extended in mid-March for two months, until May 18. On April 25, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the situation around the agreement had reached a dead end. The minister pointed to the unwillingness to remove obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers, despite their shortage, and also to connect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. The Kremlin also called the prospects for extending the agreement “not very good.”