Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, said that as a result of a joint operation by the USF and the Security Service of Ukraine, Russia has lost about 75% of the capacity of the Kerch ferry crossing, which provides military logistics between Russia and temporarily occupied Crimea.
Robert Brovdi reported this on his social media.
According to him, before the start of the MoLoChKa operation, the crossing was served by four ferries — Lavrentiy, Panagiya, Yeysk, and Mariya — as well as the reserve vessel SKS-One.
As the USF commander claims, as of 19 July, two ferries and one vessel have been completely put out of action and cannot be restored; two more ferries have lost the ability to move under their own power and are used only as barges, which significantly reduces their effectiveness.
“75% less of the Kerch ferry crossing’s capacity over two weeks of the USF ‘MoLoChKa’ operation. 25% remains,” Brovdi said.
As a result of strikes by the Unmanned Systems Forces:
- the ferry Yeysk was towed to Kerch after being hit; there are no plans to restore it;
- the vessel SKS-One has been destroyed and is beyond repair;
- the ferry Mariya was also hit multiple times and will not return to the route;
- Lavrentiy and Panagiya have lost self-propulsion and operate only in tandem with tugboats.
Before the operation began, the four ferries could carry 180–250 vehicles per day, and about 80% of the transport was used to meet the needs of the Russian army.
The significant reduction in the crossing’s capacity complicates Russia’s military logistics between Krasnodar Krai and temporarily occupied Crimea.