Facing threats in Crimea, Russian fleet quietly relocating east to Novorossiysk – HUR

After the special operations of the Ukrainian Defense and Intelligence Forces, there are no safe havens left for the Russian occupation forces in the temporarily occupied Crimea, the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Andriy Yusov, said in an interview with public broadcaster Suspilne. 

The occupation administration has been redeploying the infrastructure of the Black Sea Fleet from Crimea to Novorossiysk and other facilities for several months now.

"This concerns both the rebasing of part of the vessels and the relocation of the headquarters infrastructure. This is actually a tacit admission on the part of the aggressor that the situation in Crimea has significantly worsened for them," Yusov stated.

The head of Estonian intelligence, Ants Kiviselg, previously said that Ukraine's operations, like the attack on the large landing ship Novocherkassk in Feodosia, will force the Russians to move to the ports of Novorossiysk further east.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the Defense Forces struck the port of temporarily occupied Feodosia. The commander of the Air Force announced the destruction of the large landing ship Novocherkassk. Tactical aviation fired air-based cruise missiles.

Subsequently, the representative of the Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, stated that the Russian ship definitely had ammunition on board – likely even Shahed attack drones. That is why, according to him, there was such a strong detonation. He also hinted that "more than one Storm Shadow missile" could have been used for the attack.