I’m sure Adam will have a more cogent take on this news, but here’s mine: WOW! Wall Street Journal gift link:
Russia Withdraws Black Sea Fleet Vessels From Crimea Base After Ukrainian Attacks
Pullout represents painful setback for the Kremlin, which seized Crimea in 2014Russia has withdrawn the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from its main base in occupied Crimea, a potent acknowledgment of how Ukrainian missile and drone strikes are challenging Moscow’s hold on the peninsula.
Russia has moved powerful vessels including three attack submarines and two frigates from Sevastopol to other ports in Russia and Crimea that offer better protection, according to Western officials and satellite images verified by naval experts. The Russian Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The move represents a remarkable setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose military seizure of Crimea in 2014 marked the opening shots in his attempt to take control of Ukraine. His full-scale invasion of last year has now boomeranged, forcing the removal of ships from a port that was first claimed by Russia in 1783 under Catherine the Great.
The withdrawal from Sevastopol follows a series of strikes by Ukraine in recent weeks that have severely damaged Russian vessels and the fleet’s headquarters.
Also today, President Biden told NBC News he plans to give a major speech on Ukraine and explain why it’s in our national interest to help the Ukrainians repel the invaders. An explanation is necessary because one of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.
Open thread.
Gin & Tonic
Selecting a Crimean Tatar as the new Minister of Defense had to have been a clue, to anyone who is receptive to clues.
hells littlest angel
The guy really knows how to do his job.
japa21
@Gin & Tonic: Unfortunately, probably 98% of Americans are not all that receptive, including some who are in positions of power where it is very important to be so.
Baud
Now they just have to withdraw their army and we’ll be all set.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
/fixed
bjacques
I just finished Prof Snyder’s The Making Of Modern Ukraine—sorta binge-watched it. Engaging, harrowing towards the end, and there was so much more he wanted to say but time was short. Thanks all for the recommendation. Almost nobody else out there (except here) provides that kind of context.
I hope the Black Sea Fleet finds they haven’t retreated far enough. Where’s that Admiral lately?
Subsole
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Oh don’t be fooled.
They absolutely admire him, too.
Geminid
This move coincides with the opening of a shipping route from Ukrainian ports to the Bosporus strait, along the the Black Sea Coast. Two small freighters made it out 9 days ago and now three large bulk carriers have made the journey.
Russia has apparantly made no move to interfere. A plan to stop the ships might have been an agenda item at a meeting at the Black Sea Fleet headquarter in Sevastopol. That meeting was adjourned by Ukrainian-fired cruise missiles.
This route, if it can be maintained, is better than the one enabled by the Black Sea Grain Initiative Russia ended in July. That was limited to grain only, and Russians could slow-walk inspections at Istanbul. Two of the latest ships carried grain but one carred iron ore, and all three could sail through the Turkish Straits with minimal or no inspections.
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: Did you notice that one of the grain ships that just passed Istanbul is named Eneida? It used to be the Bosphorus Prince, but last November it came under the management of Staff Centre Shipmanagement, based in Odesa. They evidently renamed the 185 meter-long bulk carrier after the famous Ukrainian poem.
bk
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: He isn’t on the payroll of Putin; he is being blackmailed by Putin.
Jay
@Geminid:
https://nitter.net/TatAtfender/status/1709620338370179077#m
Apparently, the coastal route is behind a series of sea mine belt protected by Naval and Air Patrols over the Black Sea by NATO. The route should be good, Ukrainian Ports not so much.
Villago Delenda Est
You just hate to see developments like this. Yup, the Crimean War was apparently fought for nothing.
Anonymous at Work
Those stamps are some of my favorites that I gave as gifts.
Bigger than their HQ meeting being “involuntarily adjourned by Ukrainian missiles” (chef’s kiss, Geminid) was destruction of dry dock with a sub in it. Can’t use military asset without being able to repair it
dmsilev
@Villago Delenda Est: Well, at least we got one decent poem out of it. Strictly speaking, that’s not nothing.
WaterGirl
@Anonymous at Work: I was going with “abruptly adjourned”, but that works too.
Jay
https://nitter.net/GlasnostGone/status/1709497214739857909#m
Geminid
@Jay: I am a little surprised the Russians haven’t tried to hit one of the ships with a missil, maybe fired by a warplane from a distance. Maybe they’ll still try.
I want to know more about who the ship owners are. These are not ordinary cargo runs and I suspect the owners have motivations beyond mere profit. Like I said above, the Eneida came under new, Odesa- based management last Fall. I think Staff Centre Shipmanagement says they have 8 ships under “complete technical management.”
Geminid
But I repeat myself.
kindness
@bk: He isn’t on the payroll from Pution, he is being blackmailed by Putin.
Why not both? Trump sure acts like he’s taking Putin’s rubles.
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev: A good point. Also, too Florence Nightingale.
Redshift
@bk:
Blaming it on either bribery or blackmail gives him way too much credit. (Similarly with the Putin caucus in Congress.) They’re just awful people and Putin is who they’d like to be.
Dangerman
More than Putin; he’s taking that sweet, crude money and he’s damn well admitted it. He said the Saudi’s would pay any price he wanted for MAL, right? That sounds kinda hinky to me.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Dangerman:
Only if it comes with the bathroom he had decorated with our Nation’s secrets.
Jay
@Geminid:
The ships are only semi vulnerable to a missile strike in Ukrainian waters. With NATO running CAP patrols over the Black Sea, ships in motion in Ukrainian waters would have the ability to take some evasive actions. Warships are built much lighter than large freighters and most RuZZian ASW’s won’t take out a large freighter.
An attack on International shipping in NATO waters would open up a new phase of the war, and would allow NATO to declare the Black Sea a no-fly zone.
“Complete Technical Management” often means the ship’s are leased, sometimes for a time contract, sometimes for a trip contract. For the actual owners of the ships, well, they have no liability for the crew, no liability for the ship. What ever happens, they are insured.
And then, there is a lot of money to be made shipping Ukrainian products, (ore, steel, grain) as at the loading dock the cargo is significantly underpriced to International rates, but get’s International rates upon offloading this can be as much as 50% more profit for the cargo owner.
Gin & Tonic
@Geminid: Yes, I did notice that.
lollipopguild
@bk: Trump’s two sons have admitted that they had lots of Russian customers for dads buildings. Trumpy is being blackmailed but also being bought at the same time. I am surprised he did not give Alaska back to putin as a “gift”.
Sister Golden Bear
@kindness: Getting paid by Putin is pretty much guaranteeing you’ll be blackmailed by him later.
Geminid
@Jay: Ukraine’s parliament has set up a large indemnity fund intended to enable such shipments, so that probably helps.
It is true that it would take a lot to disable a large freighter unless the engine room was hit, but I am still a little surprised Russia hasn’t tried. The first leg of the journey to Romania’s maritime border took the Aroyat 12 hours, I think. That must be the tensest part of the journey.
Steeplejack
Per Joy Reid just now: Guess who’s moving into the Capitol office that Nancy Pelosi was ordered to vacate overnight? You guessed it—Kevin McCarthy. Thank you, bow-tied shitbird Patrick McHenry! Keep it classy.
Jay
https://nitter.net/adnashmyash/status/1709502264262468095#m
there is video in both texts,
https://nitter.net/wartranslated/status/1709488622972424406#m
Jeffro
this is great news!
run away, Russian scum!!
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@bk: Why not both.
After all his son did say in 2014, “we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”
HumboldtBlue
Betty, we expect more posting from you now that the Rays have been unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs.
Anoniminous
The Black Sea is classified as International Waters. Meaning ….
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
but it means something.
Geminid
@Anoniminous: The Treaty of Montreux signed in 1936(?) conditions access to these international waters.
The Treaty addresses navy access as well as civilian shipping. It gives non-Black Sea navies the right to enter the waters but limits them by number and size of ships, and restricts their presence to 21 daysl at a time. The Black Sea nations of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkiye are not so restricted, but right now Turkiye and Russia are the only two of these nations with sizeable fleets.
A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Turkiye exercised its Treaty rights to ban warships from transiting the Straits. This has mainly kept Russia from reinforcing its Black Sea fleet, but it also makes it harder for other Nato countries to project naval power into the Sea. Since the war began, US Navy ships have visited Istanbul but ventured no further.
Ships up to a certain size can access the Black Sea by way of the Danube, Dnipro and Don Rivers. Canals make it possible to access the Caspian Sea and to sail all the way to the North Sea. A thousand years ago, Vikings traveled central European rivers to the Black Sea, with some hauling of their boats overland.
Betty Cracker
@HumboldtBlue: Thanks for the reminder! Now why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and a squeeze of lemon?
Seriously though, the Rays ran outta gas a few weeks ago, so no surprise. I’ll always remember that magical start though! 😊