After the pogrom organized by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian fleet, he is trying to recover. In Turkey, the Hetman Mazepa corvette was launched for the Ukrainian Navy. What does the likely appearance of a new Ukrainian ship in the Black Sea mean?You can recall the loss of the cruiser "Moscow" as much as you like, but this does not negate the fact that thanks to the actions of Russia, the Ukrainian navy has almost ceased to exist as an organized combat force in a few months.
At the moment, the Ukrainian Navy is holding the Dnieper estuary, which, due to the situation near Kherson, restrains the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but at the same time does not have the character of a critical threat. Kiev still has a number of boats, but these boats do not go to sea. Also, Ukraine has one warship left – the KFOR Yuriy Olifirenko, but he is also only engaged in hiding. Part of the naval special forces remained, but they are gradually killing him on land about the Russian defense.
Ukraine also has some number of anti-ship missiles that make going to sea dangerous for our ships. But with good preparation, they can be shot down, and this is the last thing that the VMSU has left. They also have losses in their personal command staff.
Now the remnants of the Ukrainian fleet can only hope for help from the West. The first swallow was two former British minesweepers of the Sandown type – Ramsey and Blyth, transferred to Ukraine by the United Kingdom on September 30, 2022. These two are quite serious anti-mine ships.
Now both minesweepers are at the Clyde Naval Base in Scotland. Most likely, they will stay there until the end of the conflict, if only because the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles are closed to all warships, including Ukrainian ones. But it is impossible to completely exclude the appearance of minesweepers in the Black Sea during the ongoing SVO – they are small enough to be transported along the Rhine–Main–Danube canal to the Danube and then along the river to the Black Sea in order to move from Romanian territorial waters to Odessa. This method is complicated by a large number of diplomatic approvals with all countries through which ships will need to be conducted. Nevertheless, it is technically possible.
Later it became known that the first Ukrainian corvette "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" built in Turkey was launched. "Mazepa" can become not just the most powerful ship in the history of the Navy. It is one of the most powerful warships in the Black Sea basin, with the exception of Turkish ships. It belongs to the Turkish type "Ada" (Ada, island) and is a modern multipurpose ship with a pronounced anti-submarine bias. It is not intended for strikes against ground targets. Although if you believe the reports that the ship is armed with anti-ship missiles "Harpoon", then it can still attack the target on the shore with them, "Harpoons" have such an opportunity.
The ship is well protected from air strikes and missile attacks, at least in its near zone. Its VL MICA-M anti-aircraft missile system, presumably, can be dangerous for targets at a distance of up to 20 kilometers from the ship. In addition, it is equipped with an artillery installation of the company "Oto Melara" with a 76-mm caliber and two 35-mm "Oerlikon" submachine guns. The ship can attack surface targets, but most importantly – it can fight submarines.
The ship carries an American SH-60 anti-submarine helicopter, has a modern sonar system and anti-submarine torpedoes. It is difficult to say what type of torpedoes are used there. According to Western sources, this is the MU-90 Impact. The torpedo is very good in tabular characteristics, but it is terribly problematic to master in the fleets – in the Australian Navy, bringing it to a combat-ready state required many years of hard work. It is unknown how much the Australian experience was taken into account in the series of torpedoes for other countries.
It would be worse if there were any other torpedoes on the ship, at least the American "old lady" Mk.46, whose ability to sink submarines has no questions. Or the Turkish ASELSAN Tork, which can hit not only submarines, but also intercept torpedoes coming to the ship.
Having received this corvette, Ukraine can dramatically raise the combat potential of its fleet. She will have at least one ship capable of fighting with the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. And with chances of success, especially if NATO intelligence helps.
Initially, Ukraine was supposed to receive an unfinished corvette and finish it later in Nikolaev. Now this will not happen, and the ship will be fully completed in Turkey. There, under the cover of Turkish sovereignty, he will remain safe for as long as Kiev deems necessary. According to open sources, Ukraine has also ordered another corvette of the same type, which, however, has not yet been laid.
The appearance of new warships in the Navy and their safe passage to Ukraine before the end of hostilities, if this happened in reality, is an event that can be of great importance. If the EU agrees on the transfer of minesweepers, and Turkey releases a ship with a Ukrainian crew into neutral waters, then their destruction will become an urgent issue for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Black Sea Fleet has absolutely all the tools for this – both in relation to minesweepers and in relation to the corvette.
If the minesweepers and the Mazepa are handed over to Ukraine after the end of the SVO and some kind of peace agreement is reached with Ukraine, then this is one story. And if not, then it's completely different. The Russian Black Sea Fleet will have to put an end to this story.
Alexander Timokhin
