The Ukrainian Navy has ruled out the possibility of Russian forces using the Black Sea Fleet's repair facilities in occupied Crimea.
This was stated by Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk during a national television broadcast.
"The repair base in Crimea is like an empty car repair shop. It exists, and the staff even turn up for work, but there is one problem — the entrance is mined. Nobody wants to enter Crimea to carry out repairs. Experience has shown that there are no safe locations in Crimea for ships to remain moored. Moreover, this applies not only to Crimea. Even at some other naval bases, where certain repair capabilities are available, carrying out repairs is virtually impossible," Pletenchuk said.
He also assessed the repair capabilities available to Russia's Black Sea Fleet at the ports of Ochamchira in Georgia's Abkhazia region and Novorossiysk.
"Ochamchira is not the kind of naval base or harbour capable of accommodating large warships. It is a facility that could be used, for example, by the Russian FSB's maritime border guard units. That is the scale of its capabilities, and it is not suitable for the Black Sea Fleet. That leaves Novorossiysk as the only base with a fortified defensive perimeter and the necessary technical characteristics, water depths and berthing facilities to accommodate such a large number of ships," Pletenchuk said.
