Russia has deployed three more cruise missile carriers to the Mediterranean Sea with a total of 20 missiles, the Ukrainian Navy said on Wednesday.
"As of 07:00 on April 24, 2024, there are no enemy ships in the Black Sea, one enemy ship in the Sea of Azov, and seven enemy ships in the Mediterranean Sea, including three carriers of Kalibr cruise missiles with a total salvo of up to 20 missiles," the navy said on its Telegram channel.
Earlier this month, Lieutenant Commander Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said Russia has been deploying ships in the Mediterranean Sea, including its Kalibr missile carriers, as part of a tactic to expand its military presence in other regions, not just in Ukraine.
In January, Kyiv's navy said Russia had deployed three ships in the Mediterranean, including two Kalibr carriers. In February, the Ukrainian Navy said there were two Russian ships in the Mediterranean Sea, including one vessel armed with up to eight Kalibr cruise missiles, still according to the Ukrainian Navy.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.
"We should not forget that there is also a rather complex geopolitical situation there. We should not forget that the Russian Federation sees geopolitical competitors not only in Ukraine. Therefore, they, of course, are trying to spread their military presence in other regions where they have interests," said Pletenchuk in remarks published by RBC-Ukraine on April 21.
Pletenchuk added that Russia typically deploys ships on rotation, and that there is "the simultaneous presence of several units" in the Mediterranean Sea.
"In general, they have a permanent naval operational connection there, so they have been present there for many years. What tasks they perform—that's a different story," he said.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's forces in the south of the country, said in early April that Russia has been limiting the use of its sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles due to logistical issues.
"For the Russians, it is now problematic both to deliver missiles and to service the missile installations that launch the Kalibrs, and to reload with Kalibrs," said Humeniuk in remarks reported by Ukrainian media on April 2.
Humeniuk, who has since been dismissed, said much of the logistics and infrastructure involved in firing the cruise missiles is based in the port city of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea, where Russia stations part of its prized Black Sea Fleet.
The Black Sea Fleet has been targeted by Ukraine as it seeks to reverse Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2014 annexation of the peninsula. Its flagship, Moskva, was attacked and sunk in April 2022. In September 2023, a missile attack by Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol reportedly killed a number of leading officers and destroyed a Russian submarine.
"It is now very problematic for missile carriers to get there," Humeniuk added.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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