Russia is now patrolling the Black Sea with submarines as its surface fleet is paralysed by Ukrainian drones

Russia began using submarines to patrol the Black Sea after Ukraine suffered serious losses to its Black Sea fleet.

Here's What We Know

The spokesman for the Southern Military Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmytro Pletenchuk, told Ukrainska Pravda that Russia is currently deploying four submarines, three of which are missile carriers, to patrol the Black Sea.

Russian forces "have already established the practice of rotating these submarines," Pletenchuk said. He added that the submarines have already been operating in the Azov-Black Sea region.

Pletenchuk's words came after the Russian navy suffered a series of heavy losses in the Black Sea. This is because Ukraine has been using naval drones, missiles and other weapons to destroy Russian warships, including smaller vessels such as tugboats. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian military claimed to have destroyed a third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Interestingly, in March, the UK Ministry of Defence declared the fleet "functionally inactive". The attacks forced the Russian fleet to seek safer ports as far away from Crimea as possible. However, even there, Russian forces have been attacked, with Ukrainian drones reaching the port of Novorossiysk last month.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda