Admiral Makarov – done?

Admiral Makarov, Russia’s Black Sea flagship ship, was hypothetically rendered inoperable when it was damaged during a daring Ukrainian drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol over the weekend.

“GeoConfirmed [an independent volunteer evidence-gathering group] published videos showing Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), or ship drones, attacking ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, a port city in Russian-occupied Crimea, on Saturday, October 29,” states Defense Express.

“Ukrainian officials said it was unclear if Admiral Makarov was badly crippled, or had escaped with light damage. Unconfirmed reports said its hull was breached and radar systems smashed. Social media recorded loud explosions in the southern part of Sevastopol, in an area known as Riflemen’s Bay. A Russian navy school is located nearby,” quotes The Guardian.

As expected, Moscow’s reaction to Admiral Makarov’s damage was all twists, lies, and threats. Russia “made no mention of Admiral Makarov. The Defense Ministry only admitted there was “minor damage” to a minesweeper, the Ivan Golubets.” (The Guardian).

What is more, Russia blamed the West for the attack. The horde government claimed that the drones had been captured and were being analyzed for their contents. The occupiers claimed that the drones used in the attack “were equipped with Canadian-made navigation modules. It [Russia] blamed the UK for the attack and said a Royal Navy unit masterminded operations from the southern Ukrainian port of Ochakiv.”

Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration hinted that Ukraine might be behind the well-planned raid on Saturday; the administration has not claimed official responsibility for the attack.  In a meticulously thought-out operation that took the Kremlin by surprise, Kyiv looks to have punched a hole in a prominent Russian navy warship for the second time –  in April 2022, the glorious Ukrainian Armed Forces sunk the Moskva cruiser with a crew of over 500 people, many of which died as a result. As The Guardian comments, the sinking of Moskva was “the first time Russia had lost a flagship since the 1905 Russo-Japanese war, with the Moskva the largest vessel to be sunk in conflict since 1945.”

Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Ukraine’s former defense minister, commented the drone attack on Sevastopol and the damage to Admiral Makarov as an “‘interesting development. ‘Whoever did it employed a group attack. It’s not like a single rocket hitting a target. It’s coordinated. A number of air and sea drones overload the Russian defense system. If you shoot one or two down, others get through…This is a swarm tactic.’”

In retaliation to the weekend attack, Russia pulled out of the grain agreement and shelled a large proportion of the Ukrainian territory with 50 missile rockets on Monday morning, 44 of which the Ukrainian Armed Forces downed. The grain side of Russia’s revenge did not work out quite as planned as well – the grain deal continues due to the collaboration of Ukraine with the UN and Turkey.