Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet is being persistently “undermined” by attacks from Ukraine, according to UK intelligence.
In its latest update on X, the Ministry of Defence noted that Ukraine is successfully limiting Russia’s operations in the Black Sea, which borders both of the warring countries.
The MoD said: “Ukraine continues to undermine the credibility of the Russian Black Sea Fleet by seeking to target naval infrastructure and vessels in the Black Sea.”
It added: “Ukraine continues to be successful in restricting Russian maritime operations to the eastern Black Sea.
“The Russian Federation Navy’s (RFN) perception of the threat of attack from Ukraine is evident through their frequent dispersal training and anti-Uncrewed Surface Vessel/Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle exercises in and around Novorossiysk.”
The intelligence officials also pointed to Russia’s massed missile attack against critical infrastructure in Ukraine on November 28 – with many launches coming from the Black Sea – and noted how effective Ukraine had been at deterring it.
They said: “The Ukrainian Air Force reported 28 land-attack cruise missiles were fired and that their air-defence system was able to intercept a high percentage of incoming weapon systems fired from both the RFN and Russian Long Range aviation.”
Putin launched a series of strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cut power to more than a million people across the country.
He claimed the attack was in response to Kyiv using the long-range missiles from the west against Russia for the first time.
He said: “These strikes on our part also took place in response to the ongoing strikes (by Ukraine) on Russian territory with American ATACMS missiles. As I have already said many times, there will always be a response from our side.”
However, the MoD did also note “the overall tempo of maritime operations in the Black Sea remains low”, months after the UK government warned that Russia had stepped up attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure in the Black Sea.
While UK intelligence suggests Ukraine is doing well in the Black Sea, Russian troops are pushing forward in their land invasion at their fastest rate yet and currently occupy 20% of the country.
Putin is trying to grab as much territory as possible before US president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
He is looking to end the war as soon as possible, although he has not said how he would do so – sparking fears he would force Kyiv to cede occupied land to Moscow.