After strikes on Crimea, the Navy is clarifying the extent of damage to the frigate “Admiral Essen”

At the same time, Russia still has several surface and underwater missile carriers in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian Navy is verifying information about the extent of damage to the Russian frigate Admiral Essen after a recent strike on the occupiers’ facilities. This was reported by the Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk, Ukrinform reports.

“Verification is ongoing. If a ship is damaged, it takes time to repair and eliminate the defects. This is not a matter of one day or one week,” Pletenchuk noted.

At the same time, the Navy emphasizes that Russia still has other missile carriers. These include, in particular, small missile ships of the Buyan-M project and submarines, which the Russian Federation has resumed using after a long pause.

According to the Navy, as of the morning of March 8, there were no Russian ships at sea. However, at night, the occupiers withdrew two submarines, which they used for strikes, after which they returned them to their bases.

Pletenchuk also reported that in total, five surface and two underwater missile carriers remain in the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The main forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are concentrated in Novorossiysk, where Moscow has transferred ships that can still perform combat missions.

According to the spokesman, despite this, Ukrainian forces are gradually reducing the combat potential of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.

“We hope that gradually we will come to a result when there will be no missile carriers left in the Black Sea at all,” Pletenchuk noted.

Also, the day before, USM reported that the Ukrainian Navy hit a Russian landing craft and three Pantsirs in Crimea.