No Russian vessel has entered Black Sea since patrol ship was sunk
There were no Russian ships in the waters of the Black Sea as of the morning of 5 March.
Source: 3rd Rank Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk, Spokesman for Ukraine’s Navy, on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast
Quote: "One of [patrol ship] Kotov's tasks in the Kerch Strait was to provide security in the water area to preserve this so-called infrastructure facility [the Crimean Bridge]. Similarly, one ship from the north also does this [in the Sea of Azov].
As of the morning, there were no ships in the waters of the Black Sea."
Details: Pletenchuk added that there was supposed to be a helicopter on the ship (according to the information received by Ukrainian Pravda, it was there). However, he did not confirm the information that the ship was equipped with a Tor anti-aircraft missile system.
Quote: "Many people believe that it could have been equipped [with a Tor system]. It was designed as a modular ship. So it was supposed to have interchangeable blocks that would allow changing the type of weapon. However, all of this remained just plans.
...If the Tor system were installed on this [ship], I don't think it would have significantly affected the situation. Because there are other air defence systems on the shore, such as the S-400."
Background:
- Earlier on 5 March, it was reported that explosions were heard in Kerch on the night of 4-5 March, and the Crimean Bridge was closed to traffic for over eight hours. A Russian railway company operating passenger trains to temporarily occupied Crimea said trains were stopped near the Crimean Bridge. Russian media reported that drones had sunk the patrol ship Sergei Kotov.
- Later, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) confirmed that Sergei Kotov, a Russian Project 22160 patrol ship, was struck by Ukrainian naval drones on the night of 4-5 March.
- DIU said that Sergei Kotov was sunk as a result of an attack by Ukrainian Magura V5 drones.
- Andrii Yusov, spokesman for DIU, said that several people were killed and injured as a result of the unmanned surface vehicle attack on the Russian patrol ship Sergei Kotov.
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