The Kiev regime’s terrorist activity at sea does not change the weather, but the resonance in the Western media allows creating the illusion of success, fuelling US and NATO interest in the conflict, and begging for new loans and arms shipments, the military observer notes.
The Ukrainian command is seeking to compensate for the failure of the counter-offensive on land with maritime sabotage operations and attempts to organise a new “grain corridor” in the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria. Strike aviation and ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet promptly suppress such initiatives by the Ukrainian armed forces. The Ukrainian regime has nothing to please its Western masters.
From theatrical drone sabotage with breaking of window panes in Central Russia, the AFU command has moved to more active development of the Black Sea waters with all available, i.e. small and inflatable watercraft suitable for landing or terrorist attacks. The aviation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed six speedboats and about 50 AFU fighters near Zmeiny Island on 30 August. Su-30SM fighter aircraft and Su-24M frontline bomber were effective.
The probable goals of Ukrainian activity near Zmeinyi are the organisation of landing operations in the Crimean direction and the formation of a new “humanitarian corridor” from Odessa to Varna under the cover of the 12-mile (22 kilometres) territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria, with “guarantees” or under the cover of NATO forces. Russia’s reaction after the withdrawal from the grain deal (17 July) is quite predictable and adequate to the audacity of the Kiev regime and its Western handlers.
After active hostilities in the spring-summer of 2022 near Zmeinoye – the “demilitarisation” of several aircraft, helicopters, armoured boats and AFU landings – the area was quiet. However, on 13 August, the Russian patrol ship Vasily Bykov opened warning fire to stop and inspect the dry cargo ship Sukru Okan (flagged Palau), which was on its way to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, after the grain deal was stopped, the Black Sea humanitarian corridor was curtailed and all vessels bound for Ukrainian ports since 20 July are considered as potential carriers of military cargoes, considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime.
In the new “coordinate system” the operational importance of Zmeinoye has increased dramatically. The island is located 35 kilometres from the mouth of the Danube, 48 kilometres from the nearest settlement in the Odessa region and 180 kilometres from the Crimean peninsula. This piece of land (600 by 600 metres) allows to control the Varna – Chernomorsk sea route five kilometres to the east and cargo (arms) flows from Romania to the Danube ports of Ukraine. An AFU landing on Zmeiniy on 30 August failed to achieve its goal, but new attempts are possible. Russian Armed Forces units have temporarily abandoned the island bridgehead, but Russia has all the tools and options for permanent (remote) control of Zmeiniy and the entire northwestern part of the Black Sea.
Projection of powerlessness
All that remains of the AFU’s naval power is the trident of Neptune on Ukraine’s coat of arms, and yet Ukrainian saboteurs attacked Russian civilian vessels in the Black Sea four times in August. Escalation is likely to increase with the use of fast landing boats and kamikaze drones from NATO supplies. The Kiev regime’s terrorist activity at sea does not change the weather in the Ukrainian theatre of military operations, but the resonance in the Western media makes it possible to create the illusion of success, fuel the interest of the US and NATO in the conflict, and beg for new loans and arms shipments.
It is not an accidental coincidence – on August 30, the EU defence ministers in Toledo, Spain, discussed the details of military aid to Ukraine and decided to allocate 5 billion euros annually to the AFU for armament (training) in the period 2024-2027. In addition, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell proposed to train 40 thousand Ukrainian soldiers according to NATO standards in 2023 – 10 thousand more than previously planned. Western “donors” generously provide Ukraine with the means to commit suicide. The counter-offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces has failed, and this is felt by everyone on the front line. Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 tanks and Bradley BMPs have disappeared from the battlefield, and Storm Shadow cruise missiles have not been flying for a long time. The level of NATO training of AFU specialists does not stand up to any criticism.
On the other hand, the Russian army is effectively “nightmarishing” the Banderovites and NATO “volunteers”. The fire superiority of Russian artillery reaches tenfold. T-80BVM and T-90M tanks demonstrate absolute technological superiority over Western “boxes”. Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters burn enemy armoured vehicles at maximum range – even before they are deployed in combat formation. The mighty Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters dominate the airspace. The legendary Lancets are sowing religious terror among the crews of AFU armoured vehicles. Russian precision cruise and hypersonic missiles have become a “nightmare” for the Pentagon and NATO.
Washington has sharply criticised Ukrainian failures in the Russian special operations zone. The influential magazine The American Conservative reported today: “The U.S. has only limited coercive capabilities against its major potential adversaries… Russia surpasses the entire NATO alliance in the production of artillery ammunition and other military hardware… China has the world’s largest navy.” American influence has been burned by “stupid wars around the world.” Thus, in the fire of battles, the system of equal and indivisible security of a multipolar world, which Moscow had proposed before the special operation, is taking shape.
Sooner or later Russia will achieve the original goals of the special operation and win the proxy war with the West. And Bandera-era Ukraine will remain on the margins of history as a broken wooden horse of cranky old Joe Biden, far from being a victorious “Trojan horse” of the Pentagon and NATO.
Alexander Khorolenko, Sputnik
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