Kiev / Moscow (EFE) the European Command of the US Armed Forces (EUCOM).
The spokeswoman for the Southern Command of Ukraine, Nataliya Humenyuk, pointed out that the Russian movements are related to the preparations for a new Russian missile attack against Ukraine and with “the recent events with the American drone” that sank on Tuesday at about 100 kilometers. southwest of Crimea, according to the UNIAN agency.
He explained that there are currently “many units of the auxiliary fleet” and 20 Russian ships in the Black Sea, of which four are missile carriers and “one is underwater.”
Russia tries to hide its intentions in the Black Sea
In his opinion, the Russians are trying to disperse the ships, “covering as much as possible the theater of naval operations in the Black Sea and trying to hide their actions,” he stressed.
The US television network ABC said that Russian ships had arrived on Wednesday at the site where the US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sank the day before and that the Russians probably collected “parts” of the unmanned vehicle.
The Kremlin did not want to comment today if Russia will try to raise the remains of the drone to the surface, as the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Pátrushev, assured the day before.
“That is the prerogative of the military. If they deem it necessary for our interests and our security, they will do so,” the spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said.
The drone broke into several fragments and sank between 1,200 and 1,500 meters deep, according to the US, which took steps to ensure that the device no longer contains sensitive information.
An operation deeper than the “Kursk”
This is a much greater depth than the 108 meters deep in which the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk lay, which sank in 2000 and was raised a year later with Western help.
The Ministry of Defense has remained silent after the holder of this portfolio, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of the General Staff, Valeri Guerasimov, spoke on the eve of the incident with their US counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Mark Milley, respectively.
Russia considers the flight of the drone in the “flight restriction zone” declared by Moscow off the coast of the Crimean peninsula annexed by the war in Ukraine a “provocation”, but denies that there was a collision, something denied by the images released today by USA.
In the video you can see that one of the drone’s propellers and one of the props are damaged “after colliding 60 seconds before the Russian Su-27 with the American MQ-9”.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet ruled on the discovery by Ukrainian soldiers of the remains of a civilian-use drone that was allegedly manufactured by a Chinese company, modernized and armed, and was allegedly used by Russia in the war. in Ukraine, according to CNN.
As Ukraine watches Russia’s activity in the Black Sea and the appearance of alleged Chinese weaponry for the first time in the war, on the same battlefield it has noted a slowdown in the pace of the Russian offensive, especially in Donbas.
Decreases the offensive potential of Russia
A Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi said that a week ago there were between 90 and 100 daily assault attempts by Russia, while now they do not exceed 29 due to casualties and the loss of military equipment, according to the Ukrainian outlet Armyinform.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated today that it is likely that “the Russian offensive in the Lugansk region is close to being over, if not already.”
In addition, he added, the Wagner Group’s assault on Bakhmut, in the neighboring province of Donetsk, “also seems to be reaching its culmination,” since Ukrainian military sources have noted “a marked decrease in the number of attacks on this city and its surroundings, particularly in the last days.”
The Russian-imposed leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, admitted that “the situation in Bakhmut remains complex, difficult,” and that “there are no signs that the enemy intends to withdraw.”
Some 3,000 residents, including 33 children, remain in the devastated city and “absolutely” refuse to be evacuated, the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said today.
For this reason, kyiv has imposed a “mandatory evacuation” of all minors left in the city, which before the war had about 70,000 inhabitants.