Decimated and defeated: Russian MP admits Black Sea Fleet’s collapse
Russian State Duma member Yevgeny Fedorov publicly acknowledged the decimation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and urged acceptance of this defeat.
Today, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has ceased to exist as a combat unit. Russia has suffered a devastating defeat at sea. This bold statement came from Russian State Duma Deputy, member of the ultra-right political force NOD (National Liberation Movement), Yevgeny Fedorov.
Fedorov remarked that while the Russian Black Sea Fleet still exists physically, it is completely shattered. "The Russian fleet, as an operational mechanism in the Black Sea, does not exist! Not physically absent, but ineffective in terms of combat presence. This is a fact. Remember how it all began. Do you recall Snake Island, which was taken by our marines? Where is that now? What about the food control over the grain deal when all Ukrainian ships were inspected, including by our fleet? Where is it now? Now the Ukrainian commercial fleet transports this weaponry in any quantity it wants! A year ago, this was not the case. A year ago, NATO did not bring weapons to Ukraine through maritime roures. Now it does. Where is the fleet? It’s gone! This is indeed the enemy's victory! This is a fact. And the fact that some ships remain somewhere in Sevastopol or Novorossiysk, they stand still. But they do not exist as a strategic combat unit. They do not control the Black Sea, you see? This is a defeat, and it must be acknowledged, just as we accepted the defeat in Kherson. We surrendered Kherson," the Russian deputy stated.
He claims to have predicted the Black Sea Fleet's defeat from the beginning when Snake Island was still under Russian control and an amphibious landing in Odesa was being prepared. Today, Russia prefers not to remember these plans. "Putin and Medvedev correctly say: NATO cannot be defeated in the usual sense," Fedorov said.
It’s noteworthy that the destruction of Russia's Black Sea Fleet is credited to Ukraine's Defense Forces. Initially, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed its flagship - the missile cruiser Moskva, and subsequently, employing explosive-laden unmanned vessels, they began to take out Russian warships one by one. Currently, there are no Russian military ships in the occupied Crimea; the remaining ones have been withdrawn to protect them from attacks.