November 14, 2024: There are things Russia does not want to deal with or be reminded of. One of these forgettable items is the loss of the Black Sea Fleet and the inability for the Russian navy to operate in the Black Sea. Russia recently held its annual naval exercises and this year none of those operations took place in the Black Sea. Over the last three years Russia has lost 29 warships in the Black Sea and doesn’t want to lose any more.

Ukraine has no navy but they do have a lot of imagination and know how to innovate and quickly build and use their innovations. This is how hundreds of Ukrainian air and naval drones wiped out the Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine can export its agricultural products and import what it needs via the Black Sea. Russia has to depend on ports in the north, near the Arctic Circle. There are air and naval bases up there along with NATO members Norway and Finland to keep an eye on what the Russians are up to. There isn’t much to report because Ukraine figured out a way to make drone attacks on Russian forces in the far north.

In 2022 Russia believed it could hunt down Ukrainian forces wherever they were. Now Russian air and naval forces are attacked wherever they are. In 2022 Russia believed they could strangle Ukrainian trade via control of the Black Sea. Defeat of the mighty Black Sea Fleet was inconceivable. Then it happened and the Russians are trapped in a disaster they created.