Despite the liberation of the sea around Boyko Towers from Russian warships, it’s still far from a safe place for Ukraine’s navy.
The Ukrainian Navy has had control over the part of the Black Sea where the towers are for more than a year, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said in an interview with Radio Svoboda on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
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Russian warships stopped entering the area after June when Ukraine sank the Russian tugboat, the Vasiliy Bekh.
“They had a ship that was transporting weapons and personnel to Zmiiny Island. After that incident, they drew their own conclusions, and we haven't observed their presence there for over a year,” Pletenchuk said.
Even so, Ukrainian forces took great risks on Monday to retake the towers.
Besides the threat of Russian sabotage groups arriving via small boats, there was also ongoing danger from the air.
“To reach such a distance on rubber boats, you really have to be very cool guys, which the HUR agents are,” Pletenchuk said.
But the area is still a dangerous place for the Ukrainian military.
“Despite our efforts to clear this zone of Russian warships, it can still be conditionally considered ‘gray’ due to the persistent presence of Russian aviation, unfortunately, for the time being,” he said.
Russian aviation conducts reconnaissance and even inflicts fire damage.
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“This issue needs to be addressed on a broader scale. It could be resolved if we had the appropriate air defense capabilities. We are referring to F-16 aircraft,” Pletenchuk said
During the operation to take control of the Boyko Towers, there was a possibility that a Russian sabotage group might have used small vessels to infiltrate and deploy personnel.
“So, this operation was certainly risky,” Pletenchuk said.
In an exclusive statement to the Kyiv Post, Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, said that regaining control of the Boyko Towers gives Ukraine an important foothold in the Black Sea.
“This is of great significance for the security situation in the Black Sea region and for the continued strengthening of Ukraine's control over the temporarily occupied territories, particularly the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” Yusov said.
On Monday, Ukrainian intelligence reported on the special operation to regain control over Boyko Towers, which includes the drilling platforms “Petro Godovalets” and “Ukraine.”
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