Ukraine's Black Sea Ops Preparing Major Crimean Campaign, Budanov Says

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) said that Ukrainian sabotage raids in the Black Sea are preparations for a future “serious operation” in occupied Crimea. According to him, the operations in the Black Sea are a test of “the correct way to approach and leave [the peninsula].”

“In addition, this is a good message for the population that has been living under occupation for 10 years. Many of them believe that they have been forgotten,” Kyrylo Budanov said in the documentary War for the Sea: From Dnipro to Crimea, which premiered on March 10 as part of Ukraine’s national telethon.

In turn, the Kremlin believes that Budanov's words “look like self-promotion or bluffing,” Radfed Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the International Committee of the Russian Federation, said.

He also called the head of Ukraine's military intelligence “very talkative” for a head of a special services unit.

In the new documentary, HUR soldiers, who participated in the planning and implementation of combat missions linked to the same strategic plan, also shared details of the war over the sea in 2022-2023.

In July last year, fighters of the Timur special forces unit captured and returned the Ukraine oil and gas production platform known as Boyko's Towers and then participated in the Crimean operation “Awakening of Power.”

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“The enemy will never have dominance in the sea, no matter what they think. This is our Black Sea, these are our ‘towers’, our Crimea, our Snake Island,” the HUR special forces commander said.

Last week, on March 5, a special unit of the HUR’s, Group 13, attacked and sank a patrol ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Sergey Kotov.

“We understand how to maneuver, at what angle to enter, from which side. We evaluate many factors before attacking. And after that, we start searching for the target. After detection, when the craft reach a favorable position, a simultaneous attack is made by all drones,” the unit commander with the call sign Thirteen said.

You can learn more about the naval operations including unique footage of the HUR's engagements at sea in the documentary “War for the Sea: From Dnipro to Crimea” here: