Russia's Black Sea Fleet is likely to consider Novorossiysk as the best alternative location for reloading its missiles. This is due to the fact that Sevastopol is increasingly under the threat of Ukrainian strikes, according to a new report by the UK Ministry of Defense, UNN reports.
The report states that the Black Sea Fleet traditionally reloads its cruise missiles in Sevastopol in Crimea, but with the facility increasingly under threat from Ukrainian strikes, Russia is likely to consider Novorossiysk as the best alternative location.
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"The Black Sea Fleet's ability to use its base in Novorossiysk to reload cruise missiles will be an important factor in the fleet's operational effectiveness. However, moving and reloading missiles will require new delivery, storage, handling and loading processes," British intelligence notes.
On November 13, 2023, the Ukrainian military said that Russia had suspended firing of naval cruise missiles due to "logistical problems" in Novorossiysk.
"Russia is likely to seek to speed up the overcoming of such problems so that sea cruise missiles can be included in any winter campaign of strikes against Ukraine," the intelligence service added.
To recap
Ukraine forced the enemy fleet to withdraw to Novorossiysk