The Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is fighting for oil platforms in the Black Sea

In the waters of the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Navy is fighting with the invaders’ aircraft around strategically important gas and oil platforms between Crimea and Odesa.

Last week, a Russian warplane fired at a small Ukrainian military boat that was operating near a platform in the northwest sea, according to British intelligence.

The operators of the platforms are Chornomornaftogaz, which was seized by the pro-Russian occupation authorities of Crimea during the 2014 annexation.

After a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine struck several Russian-controlled platforms. Currently, these areas are the subject of interest for both forces, control over them periodically passes either to Ukraine or to Russia.

“Platforms have valuable hydrocarbon resources. However, like Snake Island to the west, they can also be used as forward deployment bases, helicopter landing sites and long-range missile sites,” the British MoD reports.