Ukraine Notches Win vs Russia’s Blockade In Black Sea

Tom Sharpe, defense editor of The Telegraph, claimed in an op-ed piece that Ukraine has already won a major victory over Russia by preventing its Black Sea Fleet from disrupting grain shipments from Odesa, destroying Putin’s warships, and pushing his navy to relocate its vessels.

The Ukrainian port of Odesa and Snake Island is now fairly safe for merchant shipping consequent to the maritime pushback. I Photo: Міністерство оборони України 

“The net result of the ‘pushing back’ of the Black Sea Fleet to the east is that the water between the Ukrainian port of Odesa and Snake Island is now fairly safe for merchant shipping. South of Snake Island, ships can remain in the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey – all Nato members. This means that cargoes can be shipped between Odesa and the Bosporus strait, giving access to all the world’s oceans and markets,” Sharpe argued.

Sharpe, who used to command a UK frigate, said there are five ways to defeat Ukrainian attacks.

“The first, and always the best, is before it leaves the wall. If you can find the base and destroy that, then the problems of defeating the system at sea are rendered moot. Second, as you do with missile systems, try to operate outside their maximum range. The third is speed and maneuver – or running away. Fourth is the obvious one – hard kill, that is shooting it with weapons. Fifth is soft kill – the ability to confuse or distract targeting systems, as with chaff and flares, or by jamming communications and/or sensors electronically,” Sharpe argued.

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