MOSCOW, July 15 — Ukraine’s campaign against Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea, which began in earnest in 2022, has resulted in Kyiv claiming to have damaged or destroyed 20 Russian ships by early 2025. The tally, according to Ukrainian officials, includes one submarine, one cruiser, two frigates, four landing ships, and multiple patrol and support vessels. Russia has confirmed some of these losses but disputes the overall figure.
The campaign opened with a landmark event on April 13, 2022, when Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles sank the Russian cruiser Moskva. That sinking, the loss of the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, marked a strategic shift in the maritime dimension of the conflict.
On October 29, 2022, a drone attack struck the Russian Black Sea Fleet in its home port of Sevastopol. The frigate Admiral Makarov was damaged in that operation, according to the record of events. August 4, 2023, saw a Ukrainian unmanned surface vessel (USV) attack on the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak near Novorossiysk.
Just over a month later, on September 13, 2023, a missile strike targeted a Russian submarine and another landing ship in Sevastopol. February 14, 2024, brought the sinking of the landing ship Caesar Kunikov off Alupka.
On March 5, 2024, the patrol ship Sergei Kotov was attacked near the Kerch Strait. On May 19, 2024, a strike hit the minesweeper Kovrovets in Sevastopol.
Strategic Context and Disputed Claims
Russia has acknowledged some of these losses, but officials have consistently disputed the total number of vessels Ukraine claims to have put out of action. The pattern of attacks, however, shows a sustained Ukrainian effort to degrade the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s ability to project power and threaten Ukrainian ports and coastal infrastructure. The use of both anti-ship missiles and unmanned surface vessels has allowed Ukraine to strike at Russian ships in port and at sea, forcing the Russian navy to adopt more defensive postures.
The campaign has reduced the fleet’s capacity to enforce a blockade or conduct amphibious operations along the Ukrainian coast. As of mid-2026, the maritime campaign continues.
The record shows that Ukraine has not relented in its pressure on Russian naval assets, and the Black Sea remains a contested theatre where both sides assess their next moves. The full extent of damage to the Russian fleet, and the timeline for any repairs or replacements, remains a matter of competing claims between the two capitals.
