Russia was forced to sell India a series of newest frigates due to the lack of Ukrainian engines produced by the Mykolaiv-based Zorya Mashproekt plant. This was stated by Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk during a telethon on Monday, UNN reports.
Details
"The fact is that Russia laid down a series of frigates before 2014. These are the newest frigates, they already have universal launchers, so they already realized that Kalibr is yesterday's news, they are trying to switch to new types of missile weapons. But in 2014, sanctions were imposed against Russia, primarily by us. And yes, the engines for these frigates were made by the Zorya-Mashproekt plant in Mykolaiv. And without them, as it turned out, it was impossible to build Russian ships. Moreover, they tried to restore this production on their territory, and even five years later, in 2019, they presented an allegedly established production, but it turned out to be a fake, even though they had transferred some of the specialists from Ukraine. This production is unique, and they have not been able to set it up at home during this period. And because of this, they were forced to abandon a whole series of frigates and sell them to India without engines. And then India purchased these engines separately," Pletenchuk said.
He noted that the Russian shipbuilding industry looks rather weak.
"This is an echo of the 90s, when they had a serious pause. Most of the projects that are serialized are also from the 90s. Traditionally, the production equipment fleet is outdated, and traditionally, there is a lag in the fulfillment of government orders. They laid a lot of plans, including in the Black Sea. They were planning to build a series of amphibious ships in Crimea, but now it is impossible," Pletenchuk added.
Addendum
On December 9, the Yantar shipyard in the Kaliningrad region held a ceremony to hand over the Project 11356 frigate, named Tushill, to India.
Recall
As reported , the pace of Russia's naval operations in the Black Sea remains low due to Ukraine's successful actions.