Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has suffered another devastating setback after once again being targeted by Ukrainian missiles.
Once considered the Kremlin’s most potent military force in Crimea, the Fleet has come under continual attack and lost around one-third of its original force.
More than 20 vessels are believed to have been sunk or put out of action in the 28 months since Putin unleashed his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has succeeded in doing this despite having no navy of its own to speak of, inflicting the damage through its ingenious use of water drones and cruise missiles.
The Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters are based in Sevastopol which came under attack in the early hours of Monday morning.
It is believed at least six British-made Storm Shadow missiles targeted military and naval bases in and around Sevastopol, according to reports by independent Russian media.
One of the missiles wiped out a major logistics centre belonging to the Fleet, according to local emergency services.
Video footage of the explosion shows a huge mushroom cloud of thick black smoke rising into the night sky.
The 758 logistics support centre opened back in 2014, following Russia‘s illegal annexation of the peninsula.
It provides weapons and ammunition to both naval and military units of the Black Sea Fleet.
The logistics centre has previously been targeted, coming under attack in September of last year, when one person died and two more were injured.
Local authorities tried to play down the latest attack, claiming the missiles had been shot down and that small fires had broken out in buildings as a result of the falling debris.
To date, the biggest humiliation suffered by Putin’s Crimean Navy was the sinking of its flagship the Moskva.
Moskva’s sinking was a major blow to Russian prestige and a symbolic, as well as practical, victory for Kyiv.
It was the only ship in the Fleet equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems capable of defending an entire naval formation from air attack.
Its loss rendered the Fleet incapable of operating freely in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, and plans for an amphibious landing near Odesa were abandoned.