Latest news with #Neizhpapa
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's Black Sea Fleet is figuring out how to defend against Ukraine's deadly sea drones: 'Now it's not so simple'
A Ukrainian vice admiral said Russia is learning quickly how to counter sea drone attacks. Moscow now has a "layered defense system" that makes attacks more difficult, he said. It's sparked an innovation war at sea that's seen helicopters and drone-mounted missiles enter the fray. The commander of Ukraine's naval forces said Russia has learned how to counter the sea drones that crippled the Black Sea Fleet, and that Kyiv has to innovate quickly to maintain its maritime edge. "What you did yesterday will no longer work tomorrow," said Vice Adm. Oleksiy Neizhpapa in a Radio Liberty interview published on Saturday. "There was a time when we could calmly enter the Sevastopol Bay with drones," Neizhpapa said. "Now, it's not so simple." Neizhpapa said the Black Sea Fleet's solution was a "layered defense system" combining detection and anti-drone capabilities. "It begins with a tiered detection system. Long-range, medium, and short-range zones for detecting our unmanned systems," said the vice admiral. "Then comes their procedure for destroying them." He said Ukraine has responded by fitting air defense systems on its drones to counter the kinetic threat. Many of Ukraine's uncrewed surface vessels were initially designed to rush their targets and explode. The technology overturned Moscow's advantage in the Black Sea — Kyiv has no formal navy, while Russia deployed dozens of armed vessels in the maritime region. Yet with a combination of sea drones and long-range missile strikes, Ukraine sank an estimated quarter of Russia's naval assets in the area, including the flagship Moskva, pushing most of the fleet out of Crimea. Still, the sea drones were later shown to possibly be vulnerable to aerial threats such as helicopters with machine guns. So Ukraine started fitting some of its drones, such as the Magura V5 exploding sea drone, with the Soviet R-73 "SeeDragon" anti-air missile. In December, it said one of its drones shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter for the first time in the Black Sea. "So now we are beginning to push the enemy back from the air above the sea, not allowing them to destroy our sea drones from the air," Neizhpapa said. "And so on and so on," he continued. "It is a constant competition. Whoever is ahead will have success." The vice admiral said that Ukraine's naval drones now carry "various types of weapons on board" to expand their defensive capabilities. But he's keenly aware that the war has pushed Russia to also value flexibility and quick decision-making. Moscow is trying to make its own sea drones, he said. "There have been a few more or less successful uses, and they are working on it," Neizhpapa said. The White House said in late March that Ukraine and Russia had agreed during talks in Saudi Arabia to a cease-fire in the Black Sea. The Trump administration said it's a move that would restore access to vital shipping routes for the global grain industry. But Russia has since said that while it supports the truce in principle, the Kremlin has a "whole range of questions" that must be answered before the cease-fire comes into effect. Ukraine and Russia also agreed last month to stop attacks on energy infrastructure, but have since traded accusations that the other has breached the agreement. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia builds layered defence: naval drone attacks became more difficult, Ukrainian Navy says
Russia has built a layered defence system, which has made it harder for Ukraine to carry out attacks using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs). Source: Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa, Commander of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in an interview with a Radio Liberty project Quote: "There was a time when we could calmly enter Sevastopol Bay with naval drones, but now it is not that simple. The enemy has set up a layered defence system. It begins with a layered detection system – long-range, mid-range and close-range zones for detecting our uncrewed systems. Then comes the procedure for destroying them… And, of course, to overcome it, we have to make different decisions – technical decisions, first of all… We need to be more flexible, smarter, and always ahead in technology. Those naval drones that were just kamikaze are already nearly history. Now, all USVs must be able to carry various types of weapons, with different methods of use, to be more effective and to achieve success." Details: When asked whether Russia has analogues of such drones, Neizhpapa noted that Russian forces are trying to develop them. Quote: "There have been a few uses, more or less successful. And they are working on it. And we are also preparing to repel these drones and their possible use. Just like during the ground war, it was something new for them back then. Now, as you can see, it is a drone war. And at sea, too, they are preparing to do the same things. So we are also getting ready, not only to use drones against the enemy, but also to defend ourselves from them." Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Crimean Bridge remains target, but information silence is needed
Oleksii Neizhpapa, Commander of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has said that the Kerch Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea with Russian territory, remains a target for Ukraine's defence forces but stressed the need to maintain information silence. Source: Neizhpapa in an interview with a Radio Liberty project Quote: "Of course, the bridge is a difficult target, especially now. But in life, there is no fortress that cannot be destroyed. There are no borders that cannot be crossed. And the bridge is the same. It's the same target as everything else." Details: The Navy commander also stressed that in order to achieve success, information silence must be maintained. "And if we say that tomorrow we intend to hit the Crimean bridge, the enemy would probably find out about it through television. Or if we say that we won't hit it. Well, that's not right," Neizhpapa added. He also noted that the number of strikes on Crimea has not decreased, perhaps their intensity is lower. "I did not conduct such analyses, less or more. Everything is working as usual, just like on other fronts. Therefore, there are targets in Crimea and other areas where the enemy is, of course. That's why I can't provide you with such analytics... Targets get hit. Perhaps not all of them are known from the press, of course. Perhaps the intensity is not so great. Perhaps this is due to the importance of other areas," said Neizhpapa. Background: There have been at least two successful attacks on the Crimean Bridge. The first attack on the Crimean Bridge took place on the morning of 8 October 2022, the day after Vladimir Putin's 70th birthday. It involved a truck with explosives wrapped in foil. The next day, the Russian newspaper Medusa called the Crimean Bridge, which was damaged after the explosion on 8 October 2022, one of the most secure places in the world – it was allegedly protected from the ground, the sky, the sea, underwater, and even from space. The second strike on the bridge was carried out by Ukraine on the night of 16-17 July 2023, with naval surface drones in an operation named Sea Baby, after the drones. Later, it became known that the Russians had installed barges south of the Crimean Bridge that were supposed to become "barricades" covering the bridge against Ukrainian naval drones. In March, Neizhpapa announced "active discussions" about a third attack on the Crimean Bridge and expressed optimism about its destruction. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Russia Today
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Kiev invokes God in threat against Crimean Bridge
Ukraine is planning a third strike on Russia's Crimean Bridge, Ukrainian Navy Chief Aleksey Neizhpapa told The Guardian in an interview published on Saturday. The bridge, which was completed in 2020, serves as a vital link between the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea and mainland Russia. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Kiev has repeatedly attempted to damage or destroy it, justifying its actions by claiming that the structure has strategic military value for Moscow. While Ukraine has launched several attacks, the bridge has sustained damage only twice, with both incidents resulting in civilian casualties. Neizhpapa insisted that the previous strikes were successful, causing damage to the bridge's road and rail structures and limiting Russia's ability to transport heavy military equipment. The vice admiral expressed confidence that a third attack will render the bridge inoperable, invoking the Slavic saying, 'God loves a trinity', meaning: 'third time's the charm'. 'The Russians understand we are actively discussing a third operation,' he claimed. Moscow was quick to respond, countering Neizhpapa's religious reference with one of its own. 'With this attitude toward religion, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will soon acquire his relics,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Leonid Ivlev, a Russian State Duma MP representing Crimea, dismissed the threat with a Russian proverb: 'The hen hasn't laid eggs yet, but she's already clucking' – which is similar in meaning to 'all bark and no bite'. He also warned Kiev against celebrating prematurely. 'I do not advise this aggressive hen from the banks of the Dnieper River to try to divide the skin until the bear is dead,' he said, meaning: 'don't count your chickens before they hatch'. Another Crimean lawmaker, Yury Nesterenko, described the Navy chief's remarks as the 'mortal agony' of the Kiev regime. 'It's yet another attempt to distract Ukrainian citizens from their country's mounting problems and the dire situation of its armed forces at the front,' he told RIA Novosti. He also claimed that threats like this are often made ahead of Crimea's tourist season in an attempt to instill fear. Ukraine continues to claim sovereignty over Crimea despite the fact that the region overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in a referendum in 2014 following a US-backed coup in Kiev. Since then, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for the bridge to be destroyed. In 2016, Kiev initiated proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, arguing that Russia built the bridge illegally. Moscow has dismissed the claims as 'absurd,' insisting that it had full legal authority to build the bridge to resolve economic and humanitarian issues caused by Ukraine's blockade of the peninsula.
