Further Information on Sevastopol

As the day dawned, we found out some information on the possible damage in Sevastopol. According to Ukraine Sources (Russia is still stuck on whether this was a terror attack):

The drone hit the ship and exploded: new details of the attack on the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation

At least three ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were hit by drones on October 29 near Sevastopol Bay in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Among them is the flagship of project 11356R (“Petrel”) “Admiral Makarov”

Should be a question mark.

The Makarov is the current flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. It took on the role after the Slava Class Moskva was sunk earlier in the war.

Due to the videos that emerged, we think that the fuel farm was also hit. This means that the Black Sea Fleet may have issues. However, the Russians are still calling this a terrorist attack.

Suffice it to say a warship is a valid military target during wartime. These are also the Kalibr carriers that Russia has been using to hit Ukrainian infrastructure.

The attack is innovative, using new equipment and methods. It is not unlike bombers and torpedoes, first used by the British at the port of Taranto. It informed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

It’s led to a two-track situation. The first is that Russia is again signaling it wants to talk. My read of this is that Russia wants to go back to the February 24 lines:

Horsehead Lavrov suddenly announced Putin’s readiness for negotiations

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian Federation is also ready to talk with the West, but “only if there are realistic proposals based on equal approaches.”

Earlier, Peskov also raised the same topic, who lamented that Ukraine “at the behest of Washington left the radar”

It’s more of this. It started a few days ago. But now, this is to Vladimir Putin. The reality is that we know the demands from Ukraine. It wants Russia to withdraw from the 2014 borders to the 1991 international borders, and nothing less will be enough.

The second track involves the grain agreement. Remember, the Black Fleet was part of it. If the damage is worse than we think, or they…