Ukraine's Navy advises Russia to flood entire Black Sea Fleet to protect Crimean bridge

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, said this during a telethon.

"Taking into account the lessons of history, I can advise them to repeat the tactics of one of their admirals and sink the entire Black Sea Fleet at once. It seems that this would be the best solution and would solve many problems at once, at least save the lives of their personnel," the military said.

Pletenchuk also advised the Russians to completely block the Kerch Strait and stop shipping in the area to have at least some confidence that nothing will reach the bridge. According to him, otherwise the occupying Russian forces will not be able to protect the Crimean bridge.

However, the Ukrainian Navy spokesperson believes that Russia is unlikely to close the shipping lanes, as it would then be difficult for it to plunder the temporarily occupied Ukraine, taking grain and metal out of it.

"The Kerch Strait is currently guarded by at least 10 units, for example, six boats and five boats of the so-called Russian border service, both from the north and the south. In this way, they are trying to protect themselves from the sea. But let me remind you that the Kerch Strait belongs to the territorial waters of Ukraine, and accordingly, all actions of the Russian Federation in this area are illegal," Pletenchuk added.

The Interior Ministry confirmed that Russians had sunk barges near the Crimean bridge to protect this illegal construction.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the Russian forces are preparing to sink six boats in the Kerch Strait to protect the bridge from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Explosion on the Crimean Bridge: what happened

On the morning of Friday, August 4, residents of the Russian city of Novorossiysk reported explosions. The Russian Defense Ministry said that it was Ukraine that allegedly attacked the naval base in the city with two naval drones.

The governor of the region said that there were no casualties or damage as a result of the attack. It was also noted that the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium was not damaged, oil shipments continue, but ship traffic in the port has been temporarily suspended.

Later, information appeared that the Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship had been shot down. In particular, one of the Russian propagandists wrote about this. He claimed that one of the compartments was allegedly flooded, which caused the ship to tip over.

On the night of August 5, powerful explosions were heard near the Crimean bridge, allegedly caused by naval drones.

A representative of the occupation authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, said that "according to preliminary information, a Russian SIG tanker was damaged as a result of an attack by marine drones in the Kerch Strait." According to the crew, the engine room was damaged. The ship cannot move independently, but there is no fuel leakage. Two tugs were sent to help it.

Immediately after the attack, the Russian occupation authorities had different versions of the events. Vladimir Rogov wrote on Telegram about the explosion near the village of Yakovenkove.

He added that traffic on the Crimean bridge was blocked and the lighting was turned off due to security measures. However, according to preliminary data, the bridge itself was not damaged. Rogov also emphasized that it was an attack by Ukrainian drones.

Russian Telegram channels reported several explosions and the sound of shooting. An alarm sounded in the area of the bridge.

The adviser to the occupying head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, did not confirm the information about explosions near the bridge. According to him, the alarm signal near the Kerch Bridge was activated only because of the threat of an attack. He also noted that "the loud noises heard by the residents of Kerch had nothing to do with the Crimean bridge. An attack threat was announced. Once it is lifted, the traffic will resume."

Later, Rogov added that the bridge was attacked by surface and aerial drones. Three of them have already been destroyed.

The head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Maliuk, commented on the recent drone attacks on Russian ships and said that they were completely legal, as they were carried out in the territorial waters of Ukraine. In order to stop the explosions in Russia, the head of the SBU suggested that the Russians should use the only option - "to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine and our land."

Subsequently, Security Service sources told several Ukrainian media outlets that the attack on the Russian SIG tanker was carried out by SBU officers as part of a special operation. The Navy was also involved.

They noted that a surface drone with 450 kg of TNT was used for the special operation, which was used to blow up the vessel. As a result, the Russian oil tanker SIG, built in 2014 and weighing about 5,000 tons, was damaged near the Crimean bridge.

Subsequently, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, commented on recent drone attacks on the territory of Russia and the temporarily occupied Crimea and announced the expansion of the range of combat operations against Russian military targets.

Anton Pavlushko, an analyst at InformNapalm, an international intelligence community, said that there are enough Russian targets in the Black Sea that are constantly engaged in supplying the Russian army.

An August 6 report by the Institute for the Study of War stated that the Ukrainian Navy's strikes on Russian targets are likely part of a deliberate interception campaign aimed at creating favorable conditions for larger counteroffensive operations.

On the evening of August 17, Russian terrorists reported that they had allegedly repelled a Ukrainian naval drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet.