Missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters explained

Operation Crab Trap
Partof:the Crimea attacks (2022–present)
Type:Missile strike
Location:Sevastopol Naval Base, Crimea
Planned By: Ukraine
Commanded By:Kyrylo Budanov
Target: Black Sea Fleet
Executed By: Main Directorate of Intelligence
Casualties:Per Ukraine:
34 killed
105 injured
Per Russia:
1 missing
6 injured

On 22 September 2023, several Ukrainian Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles penetrated Russian air defenses and struck the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea.[1] [2] [3] The strike was part of the war resulting from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was referred to as Operation Crab Trap (Ukrainian: Операція «Крабова пастка»|Operatsiia "Krabova pastka") by Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR).[4] [5] [6]

Background

See main article: Crimea attacks (2022–present). Beginning in July 2022, a series of explosions and fires occurred on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from where the Russian Army had launched its offensive on Southern Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Occupied since 2014, Crimea was a base for the subsequent Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast and Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Ukrainian government has not accepted responsibility for all of the attacks, although it did later claim responsibility for the strike on the naval headquarters.[7]

On 23 August, HUR released a video of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system in Olenivka, Crimea, south of Kherson, being struck by Ukrainian missiles, resulting in its total destruction and the deaths of several Russian military personnel in the vicinity. The loss of the S-400 system greatly depreciated Russia's ability to counteract Ukrainian missiles strikes in Crimea.[8]

Attack

At noon on 22 September 2023, two or more Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles, supplied by France and/or the UK,[9] [10] [11] [12] struck the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The event was filmed[13] and widely shared on social media, and confirmed by Russian installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev. Local officials reported that the Ukrainian missile strike consisted of six missiles and that Russian air defense shot down five of them,[14] [15] but that one was able to hit the headquarters.

Russian sources initially reported that only one soldier was unaccounted for, and nobody was injured.[16] In contrast, Ukraine’s HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov reported, in an interview with Voice of America the day after the attack, that the strike killed "at least nine people" and that 16 were injured, including high-ranking officers.[17] He also reported that, "Among the wounded is the commander of the group [in the Zaporizhia direction], Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, in very serious condition. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov, is unconscious. The number of casual military servicemen who are not employees of the headquarters is still being determined." RFE/RL wrote that "Romanchuk commands frontline forces defending Russian-occupied parts of southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region."[18] [19]

Early reports circulated online that Admiral Viktor Sokolov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, was killed in the strike,[5] [20] [21] [22] but such claims were denied by the Russian government, which showed video footage of Sokolov alive and well, although the time and date the video was filmed is unknown.[23] [24] [25] The videos were later dated to prior to the attack, with the first being an awarding of soccer medals on 20 September and the second video references awarding of the 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade with the Medal of Ushakov, which publicly available information indicates happened on 29 August 2023.[26] However, the medals ceremony may have been deliberately restaged in an effort to prove Sokolov was alive.[27]

As videos of the strike circulated on Russian social media the following day, TASS increased the reported number of injured to six but reiterated that nobody was killed and that the situation was under control. Razvozhayev reported that the fire raging through the headquarters was contained as of 23 September.[28]

On 25 September, the Special Operations Forces Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that 34 Russian officers, including Sokolov, were killed and 105 soldiers injured in the attack.[29]

Ukrainian partisan group Atesh later claimed that they provided information used to plan the attack. They reportedly gained leaked information about the Black Sea Fleet by bribing Russian officers disgruntled by missed salary payments.[30]

Aftermath

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated that strikes will continue until Crimea is "demilitarized and liberated", while the secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said there were two options for the future of Russia's Black Sea Fleet: voluntary or forced "self-neutralization".[31] Danilov went so far as to say that the Black Sea Fleet could be "sliced up like a salami" at a later date.[5]

Russian-installed authorities reported another strike was thwarted near Bakhchysarai and that Crimea's internet was under an "unprecedented cyberattack."

Another strike took place on Sevastopol less than 24 hours after the first.[32] [33] [34] Russian newspaper Astra reported that the strike hit the 758th Center for Black Sea Fleet Logistics and Technical Support.[35]

On 25 September 2023, Russian authorities have announced that they would demolish the existing headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.[36]

On 29 September, Ukrainian media reported that, following the funeral reception for an officer who was killed in the attack, seven guests suffered food poisoning, two of them fatally.[37]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Smith . Alexander . 2023-09-25 . Russian Black Sea Fleet commander killed in strike, Ukraine says . 2023-09-25 . NBC News . en.
  2. Web site: Fornusek . Martin . 2023-09-25 . Military: 34 Russian Black Sea Fleet officers, including commander, killed in Sevastopol strike . 2023-09-25 . The Kyiv Independent . en.
  3. News: Stern . David L. . September 22, 2023 . Ukraine hits headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol . 23 September 2023 . Washington Post.
  4. Web site: 2023-09-23 . Senior leadership among those killed in strike on Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Ukraine says . 2023-09-23 . NBC News . en.
  5. Web site: Kostenko . Maria . Lister . Tim . Tanno . Sophie . 2023-09-23 . Ukraine says strike on Russia's Black Sea Fleet HQ left dozens dead and wounded 'including senior leadership' . 2023-09-23 . . en.
  6. Web site: Romanenko . Valentyna . 23 September 2023 . "Crab trap": Special Operations Forces strike Black Sea Fleet HQ during commanders' meeting . Ukrainska Pravada.
  7. Web site: Blann . Susie . Drone explosion hits Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220731083608/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/drone-explosion-hits-russias-black-sea-fleet-hq-87698153 . July 31, 2022 . 23 September 2023 . abcnews.go.com . ABC News Internet Ventures.
  8. Web site: Stepanenko . Kateryna . Bailey . Riley . Wolkov . Nicole . Evans . Angelica . Mappes . Grace . Kagan . Frederick W. . Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 23, 2023 . . 24 August 2023. https://archive.today/20230824022243/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-23-2023. August 24, 2023.
  9. News: Ukraine mounts missile strike on Russian Black Sea fleet HQ in Crimea Ukraine The Guardian . 2023-09-23 . The Guardian. 22 September 2023 . Sauer . Pjotr.
  10. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/black-sea-fleet-headquarters-takes-direct-hit-from-cruise-missile Black Sea Fleet Headquarters Takes Direct Hit From Cruise Missile
  11. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66887524 Ukraine hits HQ of Russia's symbolic Black Sea navy
  12. Web site: 2023-09-22 . Sky News: Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles to strike Black Sea Fleet headquarters . 2023-10-04 . Yahoo News . en-US.
  13. News: Watch: Moment missile hits Russia's Black Sea fleet HQ . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-09-23.
  14. Web site: 2023-09-22 . Missile attack targeted Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea, local governor says . 2023-09-26 . POLITICO . en.
  15. News: 2023-09-22 . Ukraine hits HQ of Russia's symbolic Black Sea navy . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-09-26.
  16. Web site: Voitovych . Olga . Gretener . Jessie . Lister . Tim . Chernova . Anna . Ukraine launches missile attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea, officials say . . 22 September 2023 . 23 September 2023.
  17. News: Kilner . James . 2023-09-23 . Russian commanders killed in SCALP_EG and/or Storm Shadow missile strike . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-09-23 . 0307-1235.
  18. News: Ukrainian Military Claims Russian Navy Commanders Killed In Sevastopol Attack; De Facto Crimean Authorities Say Fresh Attack Thwarted . . 23 September 2023.
  19. Web site: Live: 'Senior' Russian naval officers killed in HQ attack in Crimea, says Ukraine . . 23 September 2023 . 23 September 2023.
  20. Web site: Amran . Rachel . UPDATE: 9 people killed, 16 injured in Ukrainian attack against Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters . . 23 September 2023 . 23 September 2023.
  21. Web site: What we know so far about Ukraine's attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters . . 23 September 2023.
  22. News: Bigg . Matthew Mpoke . Kramer . Andrew E. . 2023-09-25 . In a Blow to Russia, Ukraine Says It Killed Chief of Black Sea Fleet . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-09-26 . 0362-4331.
  23. News: 2023-09-26 . Russian Black Sea commander shown on video call after Ukraine said it killed him . en . Reuters . 2023-09-27.
  24. Web site: Olga Voitovych . Clare Sebastian . Florence Davey-Attlee . Rob Picheta . 2023-09-26 . Viktor Sokolov: Ukraine 'clarifying' whether Russian commander was killed in strike, after video purportedly shows him alive . 2023-09-27 . CNN . en.
  25. Web site: 2023-09-27 . Dead or alive? Mystery surrounds the fate of Russia's Black Sea Fleet commander . 2023-09-27 . CNBC . en.
  26. Web site: Another video purports to show Russian Black Sea Fleet commander "alive". . 27 September 2023.
  27. News: Russia Releases New Videos of Admiral Ukraine Claimed to Have Killed . Valeriya . Safronova . Oleg . Matsnev . Eric. Nagourney . 2023-09-27 . The New York Times . 2023-11-13.
  28. Web site: Ukraine air force chief mocks Moscow as missile hits key Russian navy base in Sevastopol, Crimea . . 22 September 2023 . 23 September 2023.
  29. News: Busby . Mattha . Belam . Martin . Kurmelovs . Royce . Belam . Mattha Busby (now); Martin . Kurmelovs (earlier) . Royce . 2023-09-25 . Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukraine claims to have killed commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet . en-GB . the Guardian . 2023-09-25 . 0261-3077.
  30. Web site: Sep 26, 2023. Epstein . Jake . Russian officers who hadn't been paid by Moscow sold key intel on the Black Sea Fleet to Ukrainian resistance fighters. Then the headquarters blew up. . 2023-09-26 . Business Insider . en-US.
  31. News: Ukraine attacks Russian Black Sea navy HQ in Crimea . . 22 September 2023 . 23 September 2023.
  32. Web site: Ukrainian forces launch second missile strike on Crimean city of Sevastopol - CBS News . . 23 September 2023.
  33. Web site: Explosion reported near Russian Black Sea Fleet shipyard in Sevastopol . . 24 September 2023 . en.
  34. Web site: Crimean city of Sevastopol hit by new missile attack . . 24 September 2023 . en . 23 September 2023.
  35. Web site: Evans . Angelica . Harward . Christina . Bailey . Riley . Hird . Karolina . Kagan . Frederick W. . Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 25, 2023 . . 26 September 2023 . en.
  36. News: Ukraine: The Latest -Russia blows up own HQ . 2023-09-28 . The Telegraph . Giles Gear . Dominic Nicholls . 25 September 2023 . en.
  37. News: Mass poisoning occurs at the wake of a Russian officer in Sevastopol – there are dead . sundries.com.ua . 2023-09-29 . 2023-10-01.

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