Does Ukraine still have a navy? Syrskyi explains
Syrskyi assures that Ukraine has been, is, and will remain a maritime nation.
Oleksandr Syrskyi / © Oleksandr Syrskyi
On the occasion of Navy Day, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi spoke about the state of the Ukrainian Navy.
He wrote about this on social media.
Syrskyi assures that Ukraine has been, is, and will remain a maritime nation. He recalled that the naval traditions of our people date back thousands of years: from the princely flotillas of Kyivan Rus, the Zaporozhian «chaika» boats, and the fleet of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which raised blue-and-yellow flags on the Black Sea over a hundred years ago.
The Commander-in-Chief emphasizes that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s Naval Forces have become one of the key factors in Ukrainian resilience.
«Together with you, we prevented the aggressor from landing troops in Odesa. We repelled the attack on Snake Island. We sank the „Moskva.“ In total, we destroyed or damaged 28 enemy ships and one submarine. We struck the headquarters of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol. We ensured the safety of the „grain corridor.“ We protected navigation in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, ” he recalled.
According to Syrskyi, the phenomenon of this war is that Ukraine, with a limited surface fleet, has turned Russia’s once-formidable Black Sea Fleet into a flotilla hiding in the bays of Novorossiysk. Indeed, the enemy fleet has effectively been driven out of occupied Crimea.
What is the state of Ukraine’s Navy today?
«Today, Ukraine’s Navy consists of unmanned surface and underwater systems. It is coastal defense. It is the marine corps, which holds the hottest sections of the front on land and effectively attacks. It is high-precision weapons. It is technologies that not only meet challenges but also shape the future, ” the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said.