Crimea Partisans Expose Russian Missile Systems Protecting Sevastopol

Partisans in Crimea have surveilled and photographed missile systems used by Russia to protect its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

In a post on Telegram, the ATESH partisan movement said Russian forces were deploying the BM-21 Grad and the TOR air defense missile system to counter air and sea strikes by the Defense Forces of Ukraine

According to the report, the Russians are primarily using Grad to target naval drones though how effective the Grad would be to do this is questionable.

"As practice shows, this tactic more often fails than succeeds," the report stated.

Additionally, the partisans said they continue to monitor Russian naval vessels in the area, most recently observing a large Russian amphibious ship near the Grafska pier.

"Movements of ships in the bays and the deployment of coast guard boats on patrols are periodically observed," ATESH reported.

The partisans said they relay all collected information to the Ukrainian Defense Forces “for the swiftest and complete expulsion of the occupiers from the Black Sea and Crimea.”

The BM-21 Grad rocket salvo fire system has been regularly mentioned in accounts of the Russian-Ukrainian war. This weapon has undergone continuous modernization for over 60 years.

For this 122-mm volley fire system, fifty different projectiles were created, with the most popular being a high-explosive version.

The Grad is highly mobile thanks to its wheeled chassis. Additionally, the time required to launch a full salvo is only 20 seconds.

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Since 2014, the Russian army has frequently used Grad to shell Ukrainian cities. After the commencement of full-scale Russian invasion, Grad rockets were launched at cities such as Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and others in the north, east, and south of Ukraine.

But the Grad is unlikely to be effective against small targets on water such as Ukrainian sea-borne drones.

Previously, Captain Pavlo Lakiychuk of the 1st rank of the Naval Forces of Ukraine emphasized that Ukrainian kamikaze drones already exert a decisive influence on the course of the war at sea.

"This is a new type of weapon that Ukraine uses very effectively, prompting the enemy to seek countermeasures. In general, the world views our naval drones with a certain level of apprehension," he said.

Simultaneously, Lakiychuk explained that these drones are most vulnerable at the end of their approach to the target. They are easily targeted and shot down with artillery fire and small arms.