![]() “But it’s always the same two or three ships, such as the fleet’s flagship Moskva, or the destroyer Smetlivy. “Putin has used the fleet regularly in the Mediterranean to show that Russia is still a world power,” said Willett of Jane’s Navy International. BETTER DAYSĪll agree the fleet has seen better days. If Crimea, as seems likely, opts to become part of Russia in the face of opposition from the West and from the Ukrainian government, the Black Sea Fleet and its around 16,000 servicemen will become even more important.Įxperts say the fleet currently has around 40 frontline warships including a submarine, two cruisers, a destroyer, eight frigates, 11 corvettes and attack craft, nine mine warfare vessels and eight amphibious ships which can be used to insert troops anywhere in the region. Russia’s only alternative, its port at Novorossiysk, is buffeted by winds, is sometimes forced to shut because of bad weather, and would need billions of dollars of investment to house the Black Sea Fleet. ![]() It would also have left Moscow without a viable Black Sea naval base.įirst purloined by Russia at the end of the eighteenth century by Empress Catherine the Great, Sevastopol’s deep water port, sheltered bay, and the fact that it never freezes over, make it the best natural harbour in the Black Sea. Such a withdrawal, from a base that carries huge emotional and symbolic significance for Russians because of Sevastopol’s role in the Crimean War and World War Two, would have been a serious geopolitical defeat for Putin, said Lukyanov. Their agenda would have meant the fleet would have to leave.” EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE “The new government in Ukraine wants to move closer to the European Union and NATO. “Putin had every reason to think that would happen,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Moscow-based Russia in Global Affairs journal. Russian analysts say Putin’s decision to intervene in Ukraine was in large part driven by his desire to safeguard the Sevastopol base as he feared the country’s new government would cancel a lease deal allowing the fleet to stay until 2042. Its base is also a docking point for Russian oil tankers bound for the Bosporus and the fleet will be tasked with protecting Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline once it is finished. It is also expected to take delivery of other vessels such as the giant Mistral helicopter carrier, currently being built in France, as well as new attack aircraft.įor Russia, the fleet and its Sevastopol base are a guarantor of its southern borders and a platform for projecting power into the Black Sea and from there into the Mediterranean. Lee Willett, editor of Jane’s Navy International, said six new submarines and six new frigates were scheduled for delivery in the next few years. It is soon to be restocked with billions of dollars worth of hardware. Nor will the fleet be outdated for much longer.
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