Ratio of Russian forces to Ukrainian in Black Sea has decreased three times – Captain Ryzhenko

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"At the beginning of the full-scale war, the ratio of forces between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea was 1 to 12 in favor of Russia, and now this ratio has decreased three times and is 1 to 4. This happened because we received coastal missile systems. Russia actually dominates both at sea and in the air over the northwestern part of the Black Sea. We were able to hit the cruiser Moskva with Neptune missiles, using the surprise factor and the fact that the Russian forces did not maintain the combat readiness of the air defense systems on this ship. Then we used Harpoon missiles to destroy the Vasily Bekh rescue tug and hit the so-called Boyko towers (gas drilling platforms - ed.), and they hid their ships south of the Crimean peninsula," said the Center for Defense Strategies expert.

Andriy Ryzhenko noted that such positions are quite suitable for the Russian forces to fire missiles at Ukraine, which they do regularly.

"Their missile ships are now in service. They have two newest frigates of the admiral series, three Buyan-M corvettes and four submarines. One of the submarines is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. That is, they can theoretically launch a strike with 56 Kalibr missiles. But we know about the problems with the Kalibr missiles, that the Russians have already exhausted this potential. However, the danger remains, the Russian army periodically accumulates forces for missile attacks," Ryzhenko said.

The 1st rank captain added that the Russian troops are now firing missiles that were manufactured in Yekaterinburg almost a week or two ago.

"And now they are using aviation, which feels more or less stable in Crimea, even after strikes on Russian military airfields on the peninsula. Additional aircraft come from many parts of Russia, for example, from the Russian Northern Fleet. The Russians also have landing ships. There are 7 ships in Sevastopol, 4 of them are under repair. We know that these ships have problems with their engines, because they are Polish-made and there are no spare parts. And there are 5 more landing ships in Novorossiysk. It is noteworthy that they have significantly strengthened the anti-sabotage defense of its base cities. They have dispersed their forces and ships to different locations. They have moved some ships from Sevastopol to Kerch and Feodosia. So, in principle, the Russian army is ready to fulfill their tasks at sea, but we have made it much more difficult for them to do so. And the northwestern part of the Black Sea is actually dangerous for them," Ryzhenko summarized.

• On March 23, Vladyslav Nazarov, spokesman for the Operational Command South, said that the threat of attacks remains high, as three Russian missile carriers are maneuvering in the Black Sea.