All Russia's Black Sea Fleet warships will soon be destroyed - Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Varchenko

Ivan Varchenko, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a national security expert, expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel.

"This proves once again that Russia will not be able to avoid a fair punishment. Large landing ships, small ships, those carrying missile weapons and Russian control ships will be destroyed in the near future, they will be destroyed," he said.

Commenting on the successful strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian military facilities in Sevastopol on the evening of March 23, Varchenko noted that Russia is now struggling to find ways to deal with these ships. They realize that the country is to some extent locked in with this Black Sea flotilla. 

"The Black Sea flotilla is now actively thinking about where to escape to. And the Black Sea Fleet's management, moving from place to place, is thinking about how they can stay alive. But they also realize that even if they physically manage to stay alive now, they will be held accountable through international justice for crimes in Ukraine. And the fact that they want to retaliate against Ukraine has already been going on for 10 years. I do not think that the Russians will find any new options to strike Ukraine even more hurtfully," he said.

The Black Sea Fleet is already a flotilla. Although not so long ago, the Russian Black Sea Fleet could still frighten all the countries in the Black Sea basin, Varchenko noted.

"The Russian Black Sea Fleet is now deeply disguised in the bays of Crimea. The vast majority of them, of course, fled and are trying to hide along the eastern coast of the Black Sea, including using the Russian-occupied territories of Abkhazia," he added.

• On the evening of March 23, the Russians announced the alleged operation of air defense in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The defense forces hit large landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. The Russians also report damage to transportation infrastructure.