Sebastopol, Again…

There is a high chance that the Putin system will collapse in 1–2 years — Leonid Volkov

So this afternoon (local time), Ukrainian Storm Shadows hit multiple targets in Crimea. Among them was the headquarters for the fleet in the port of Sebastopol. This is the second major attack on this port. The last one destroyed two ships in dry dock.

So first, via MO, and I must say this came fast, is a commentary about that attack:

British “Shadow” over Crimea. The air defense that Z-propaganda touted could not cope even with a limited attack by NATO missiles.

The fire in the Black Sea Fleet headquarters building continued until the evening. It is still unknown about the victims of the missile strike — the Russian Ministry of Defense reported only one person missing. The city center was blocked off; electricity and gas were cut off in houses in the headquarters area.

The attack on the headquarters was most likely caused by a Storm Shadow missile (or its French version Scalp, they are almost identical), Israeli military expert David Sharp told MO.

“These missiles are very difficult targets for air defense. The training and combat readiness of the crews also matter — and throughout the war we saw that not all was well with this for Russian air defense officers, both at the front and in the rear. Storm Shadow has low radar signature and flies to the target at a very low altitude of 30 meters. This makes it difficult to detect and defeat.”

In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces use decoy missiles, the expert adds: “The Russian Ministry of Defense does not even always lie in its reports — they often mistake downed false targets for real missiles. Attacks always involve several of these targets.”

Russian propaganda has greatly over-praised its air defense, states Sharp: “ They positioned themselves as an air defense superpower. Allegedly, the complexes have no analogues . But the reality is different from advertising and propaganda — Russian complexes are far from being the pinnacle of technology. There are also problems with the methodology for repelling air threats.”

“Can you imagine a confrontation with NATO countries? If not several such missiles were flying, but dozens or hundreds at once ? Together…