Two submarines from the Russian Black Sea Fleet have been missing from the Black Sea waters for a long time. This absence is probably due to technical problems or exhausted maintenance resources, said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy Dmitry Pletenchuk during the national Telethon.
If before the Russians constantly maintained two units of submarines on combat duty, since the beginning of this year such activity has not been registered.
The loss of presence by the submarines raises questions about their serviceability and maintenance capabilities. Pletenchuk explains the nature of these vessels and their condition:
''Submarines are difficult targets, they are also carriers of cruise missiles and launch them from an underwater position. At the same time, we have not observed them at sea for a long time. This may also be due to the preservation of the resource. I assume that there may be some problems with operation precisely because they cannot be put into permanent maintenance'', said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy.
Two of the submarines that were outside the Black Sea at the beginning of the war have already undergone scheduled maintenance in Russia. However, those that remained blocked in the water area have been intensively operated without the possibility of full-fledged repairs.
''Currently they are at the base in a semi-submerged state - this is the know-how of the Russians to protect them as much as possible from air strikes. There is information that they have even installed the navigation bridges of these submarines.
Part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet still remains in Crimea. There are both damaged combat units and numerous auxiliary ships on the peninsula. According to Pletenchuk, they were not transferred to Novorossiysk because the logistical capacity of the port there is limited, and the placement of stationary ships for repair makes them an easy target for Ukrainian forces.
The remaining submarines in service have been rebased precisely in Novorossiysk, but their trips to the open sea have been minimized due to the danger from Ukrainian naval drones.
Data shows that in August Russia launched "Caliber" missiles only once — directly from the waters of the port of Novorossiysk. In July, three such cases were recorded, again carried out from the base itself. The Russian command prefers the risk of a launch failure inside the base to the danger of a Ukrainian attack in open waters.