Although the Russian Navy is relocating from occupied Crimea, Ukraine will continue to hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s warships at their new base, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 24 October, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
During his address to the participants of the second parliamentary summit of the Crimean Platform, President Zelenskyy said that the Russian Black Sea Fleet can no longer operate in the western part of the Black Sea due to Ukrainian drone and missile attacks and “is gradually fleeing Crimea.”
“And this is a historic achievement. Recently, the Russian leader was forced to announce the creation of a new base for the Black Sea Fleet, or rather, for its remnants in the occupied territory of Georgia, that is, in the southeastern part of the sea, as far away from Ukrainian missiles and naval drones as possible. But we will get them everywhere,” Zelenskyy promised. “There are no longer any safe bases or entirely reliable logistical routes for Russian terrorists in Crimea and the occupied parts of the Black Sea and Azov coast. As of now, we have not yet achieved full fire control over Crimea and its adjacent waters. But we will. It’s just a matter of time,” Zelenskyy added.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s warships even in Abkhazia in the southeastern part of the Black Sea. Zelensky promised that Ukraine would do everything it could to destroy Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and liberate Crimea, step by step, despite any challenges. Russia occupied and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
In October 2022, the leader of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, said that Russia planned to establish a naval base on the Black Sea coast of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia, a territory of Georgia occupied by Russia.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry called these actions a gross violation of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and another attempt to legitimize the illegal occupation of Abkhazia.
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