Russia has 'clearly lost its control' over the Black Sea with its navy moving to safer ports, expert says

Pointing to those attacks, James Heappey, a UK defense minister, said during a defense event in Warsaw last Tuesday that the move signaled the "functional defeat" of the Black Sea Fleet. "I would argue that that is what it is because it has been forced to disperse to ports in which it cannot have an effect on Ukraine," Heappey said. ... Sidharth Kaushal, a sea power expert at the UK's Royal United Services Institute, told Insider that to his mind, Heappey's assessment would only be the case once it's clear that the move is permanent. He pointed out that much of the Black Sea Fleet moved to Novorossiysk last winter when Ukraine was mounting regular maritime drone attacks at Sevastopol ships. The fleet returned to the Crimean port later, to continue to assert its power over the Black Sea.