Ukrainian forces have recaptured an oil and gas platform in the Black Sea that had been seized by Moscow in 2015, in the context of the Ukrainian counter-offensive and while tension has escalated in the waters off Ukrainian ports, the Military Intelligence Services of Ukraine (GUR) announced today.
“Ukraine regains control of ‘Vichki Boïka’,” reads a statement from the Intelligence Service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense posted on the Telegram application. “During the operation, fighting took place between Ukrainian special forces aboard boats and a Russian Su-30 fighter jet…the Russian aircraft was hit and forced to retreat.”
The platform was seized by Russia in 2015, following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and has been used by Moscow for military purposes since invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as reported by APE-MPE. “For Ukraine, the recapture of Vichki Boïka is of strategic importance and, as a result, Russia has lost the ability to use them for military purposes,” the GUR statement said. “Russia has lost the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this brings Ukraine several steps closer to reclaiming Crimea.”
Along with the mining platform, Ukraine seized several “valuable trophies” such as helicopter ammunition and a radar system that allows monitoring the movements of ships in the Black Sea, according to the statement. Before its occupation Crimean peninsula from Russia, Ukraine secured a significant part of its natural gas from the Black Sea subsoil, which supplied not only Crimea but also the rest of the country.
Source: News Beast
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