LONDON, Apr 3: The UK Defence Ministry on Sunday claimed that Russia continued its distant blockade of the Ukrainian coast in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, affecting Ukraine’s resupply by sea. In a series of tweets, the ministry said, “Russian naval forces maintain their distant blockade of the Ukrainian coast in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, preventing Ukrainian resupply by sea.
“Russia still retains the capability to attempt an amphibious landing but such an operation is likely to be increasingly high risk due to the time Ukrainian forces have had to prepare.”
The ministry also said that the reported mines within the Black Sea pose a serious risk to maritime activity. “Though the origin of such mines remains unclear and disputed, their presence is almost certainly due to Russian naval activity in the area and demonstrates how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is affecting neutral and civilian interests”.
The UK ministry pointed out that Russian air activity increased towards south eastern Ukraine. “Over the last week, there has been a concentration of Russian air activity towards south eastern Ukraine, likely a result of Russia focusing its military operations in this area.”
The UK said Russian aircraft are still vulnerable to air defence systems of Ukraine. The ministry said, “Despite ongoing Russian efforts to diminish Ukrainian air defence capability, Ukraine continues to provide a significant challenge to Russian Air and Missile operations.
As a result, Russian aircraft are still vulnerable to short and medium range air defence systems. “Russia’s inability to find and destroy air defence systems has seriously hampered their efforts to gain broad control of the air, which in turn has significantly affected their ability to support the advance of their ground forces on a number of fronts.” The ongoing conflict between the two nations began when Russia started full invasion of Ukraine on February 24. (UNI)
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